Connected
by Joy Nelson
Summary: They shifted against each other for a while, plumping pillows, intertwining limbs and fingers, finding just the right position for slumbering again. It was like searching for your favorite ragged pajamas, the old tattered pair that were soft and comfortable.
1. Chapter 1

**What's Going On:** While Evangeline tries to clear her client of murder charges and Cristian attempts to put his life back together, their friendship grows into something more.

 **Disclaimer:** Some of these characters belong to Prospect Park and OLTL, some of them belong to me.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Dana seemed like a sweet girl. Brown-haired and doe-eyed and eager to continue their acquaintance beyond a simple one-night stand. Cristian wasn't looking for a sweet girl or any further contact, physical or otherwise. That sentiment was punctuated by a small amount of guilt. He wasn't one to callously use or mistreat women. Carlotta hadn't raised him that way. But this had been about ending over a year of forced celibacy and nothing more. And the guilt was rapidly disintegrating with Dana's incessant chattering about nothing. She hadn't been this animated at Rodi's. Or maybe all that beer and tequila had kept him from noticing.

Ten minutes later, Dana was snoring like a jackhammer and Cristian decided he preferred the incessant chattering. He rolled out of bed and ducked into the bathroom, its Pepto-Bismol colored walls momentarily blinding him. Lifting the toilet lid, he discarded the condom and relieved himself, digging his toes into the fuzzy lime rug, tilting his face to the ceiling and closing his eyes as he relished the lingering buzz of alcohol and the mellowness that came with good sex.

As usual, quiet moments like this yielded thoughts of Natalie. Remorseful thoughts. It angered him, that he still felt emotionally obligated to someone who'd so harshly dumped him. As a free man, he could screw every woman in Llanview if he wanted. So he set about expelling those tenacious feelings for his ex-wife by silently repeating his new mantra. _Fuck, Natalie…fuck, Natalie_. Sometimes he could say it and mean it, other times he was rather half-hearted about it. He still loved her after all…at least he thought he did. This was turning into one of those half-hearted efforts, so he let himself imagine her rolling around in bed with McBain. _Fuck, Natalie…fuck, Natalie_. Yeah…it was working now.

He washed up with the promise of a hot shower at home and exited the bathroom like some stealth government spy. But Dana was still sleeping soundly, arms and legs flung in all directions, mumbling incoherently between the buzz saw snoring. By the time he was dressed and sneaking out the front door of the nice upscale home, Cristian was shaking with silent laughter, regretting that he'd probably have to keep this gem to himself. There was no brother to share it with because Antonio was off somewhere chasing Jess. Or Tess. God only knew who.

Mindful of the falling snow, his parole status and his slightly inebriated state, Cristian guided his '66 Mustang almost too carefully through Llanview. He'd bought the car years ago with the intention of refurbishing it, but marriage and near-death and prison had kept him from it. Mami had stored it in the garage and Cristian had finally reclaimed it a month ago. So far all he'd done was replace the suspension, bought new tires and had it painted a glossy black. The interior needed some work, but it ran like a dream. He loved hearing the engine gun, got a kick out of whipping it around curves.

At home, he had several messages. Mami wanted him to come to a family dinner on Sunday. Evangeline had just called to say 'Hi'. Listening to her voice had Cristian grinning, pleasure suffusing him as he remembered their paint fight. She was a fierce and serious little thing, but taking her out of her element had shown Cristian an intriguing side to Miss Eva. He was contemplating ways to get her to loosen up more when he played the next message.

The good mood plummeted. Natalie's voice echoed in the room and she sounded uncertain, a little miffed perhaps as she muttered something about finding some photographs of his and wanting to know when it was okay to bring them by. Cristian hissed a very nasty expletive and hit the delete button hard. What, was she hoarding shit? Picking out an item once a week to return to him just to have an excuse to come by and torture him?

Pissed and stripping as he went, Cristian climbed the stairs and went straightway to the shower. The hot water stung his skin, washing away the smell of Dana and alcohol as he angrily growled his mantra over and over again.


	2. Chapter 2

"Quick Draw McGraw just walked in."

Evangeline followed Layla's gaze to John McBain, who was weaving his way through the throng of swaying couples crowding Capricorn's dance floor. He headed straight for the bar, where he would no doubt drink himself into a depressed stupor. Just last week he'd been suspended after a hostage situation in which he'd shot the perpetrator, nearly killing his own brother. Ugly confrontations with both Michael and Bo had left him moping around Llanview. Though he'd made up with Michael and had reportedly been reinstated to the LPD, he still seemed as moody as ever.

Anxiety sliced dully through Eva's chest. It was a feeling she experienced each time she encountered her former lover and it aggravated the hell out of her. Of course it would be a while before she was completely over John, but she wished the pain of seeing him wasn't still so sharp.

"This town is too damn small." She muttered into her martini, sinking lower in her booth seat.

"Don't sweat it." Layla bounced to the Latin beats pulsing throughout the club and then suddenly stopped, narrowing her eyes. "Wouldn't you know it? There goes Boobzilla."

Sure enough, Natalie Buchanan was now strutting through the crowd, a blood-red dress hugging her generous curves. She sidled up to John, expression predictably adoring, knockers strategically aimed.

"Now what are _they_ doing here?" Layla wondered aloud, scrunching her nose in disgust.

"Enjoying a night out like the rest of us." Eva sighed resignedly. Much as she hated seeing John and Natalie, she couldn't begrudge them wanting to get out. She could either deal with the situation or concede the whole town to them. And Eva wasn't about to concede anything.

"But this isn't even their kind of place." Layla continued her rhythmic bouncing. "They should be at Rodi's, chugging Bud Lites and shooting pool with Fonzie and 'nem."

Eva snickered and downed the rest of her drink.

"Want another one? My treat." Layla offered. She wasn't imbibing herself as she was working the bar tonight.

Fishing an olive from the empty glass, Eva popped it into her mouth and watched her younger sister shimmy. She could barely rub two nickels together, but you'd think the girl was living large given her perpetually high spirits. Thong could burst into flames and Layla would still be beaming.

"Aren't you on a budget?" Eva asked bluntly.

"No." Layla replied in a sing-song voice, snapping fingers and rolling her body seductively.

"You should be."

"Girl, _please_." Layla abruptly ceased dancing again, dark eyes shooting daggers at her sister as she crossed slim ebony arms over her chest. "I've _got_ money."

Being a lawyer, Eva knew she could've broached such a touchy subject with a little more finesse. "I don't mean to be condescending, but you know a bartender's salary is -"

Dark, perfectly waxed eyebrows arced nearly into Layla's hairline. Stone-faced, body rigid, her whole demeanor screamed _don't go there_.

"Fine. Buy me a drink." Eva hesitated a beat before pressing the issue again. Dammit, she was a big sister. She was obligated to browbeat Layla about ambition and responsibility. "Seriously, what're your plans? How long are you going to keep working for minimum wage plus tips?"

"No…you…didn't." Layla gasped, leaning forward. "Don't forget I'm working at Buchanan Enterprises now. I make good money there. And Kevin told me just the other day that I was doing an excellent job."

"Mergers and portfolios and takeovers are not your thing."

"For your information, I'm only working there - and here - to save money. There's a business opportunity I wanna pursue."

"What _kind_ of business opportunity?" Eva was skeptical.

Layla hesitated for a moment, petulant and determined to stay mad. But a light was shining in her eyes and before long, her slim body was twitching with excitement. "Well, you know how into fashion I am. I mean, _look_ at me."

Eva just grinned and shook her head. The conceited heifer _was_ gorgeous.

"Anyway, I've been thinking of opening up a clothing store."

Eva actually found herself enthused by the idea. "Now that's what I'm talking about. That's perfect for you, Layla."

"Isn't it? But it'll take me a while to make the start-up funds."

"So find an investor. I'd be willing."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Although you'll probably need a loan as well. You have to consider mortgage on a small building, or you could rent space. Then there's stock and overhead costs and insurance. Want me to work up a business plan?"

"Hold up, girl, this is my baby." Layla laughed, sliding from the booth to stand. "And my break is over. I'll send over another drink and it's my treat, okay?"

Layla gave her no chance to protest, pecking her sister's cheek before hurrying away. A fresh martini arrived five minutes later and Eva sipped it slowly, determinedly averting her eyes from whatever John and Natalie were up to at the bar. Much to her relief, an attorney she was acquainted with asked her to dance. Keith was a little on the nebbish side, but he had a wicked sense of humor and kept Eva in stitches as he twirled her from one end of the dance floor to the other.

Despite the fun she was having, she eventually grew weary. Keeping up the pretense of nonchalance was mentally draining. Especially with John and Natalie both casting cryptic looks her way. Well, cryptic on John's part. Natalie's narrowed eyes held their usual malice. Neither Keith's nor Layla's begging could sway her from getting away from the lunacy.

Evangeline had just stepped outside Capricorn and handed her parking voucher to the valet when the shiny black car eased into view. In her peripheral vision, she saw a window slowly lowering, then heard a smooth voice addressing her.

"Desee un paseo, bebé?"

She could decipher the "baby", but not much else. There was a playful and sensuous undertone to the question, but Eva refused to acknowledge it or him. Men were amazingly dim-witted creatures, expecting a woman to preen and coo and be all grateful whenever they threw you a tired line.

Shivering and wrapping her coat closer around her, she gave Romeo her back and focused her attention in the direction from which she knew her car would arrive.

"Es como ése, eh?"

Did she look like a two dollar whore? Why was he still talking to her? Did he not recognize a brush off? She wasn't really worried about being attacked, but Eva still gripped the small can of mace in her coat pocket, glaring at the disinterested bouncers huddled inside the glass entrance. Where the hell were the other two valets who were usually here? Antonio would most definitely get an earful from her tomorrow.

"Evangeline."

The familiar voice had her swinging round.

Damn Cristian Vega. A mischievous grin lit his handsome face and Eva recalled the last time she'd seen him so amused, when multi-colored remnants of a paint fight had covered him from foot to head.

Smiling ruefully, Eva moved to the car, admiring the classic lines as she crouched to peer in at Cris. "You almost got maced."

Cris only laughed. Eva raised her hand to the Mustang's hood, running fingers over the sleek black metal. "Pretty. Where'd you get it?"

"Hey, hey…" Cris chastised, reaching out of the window to grasp her wrist. "…don't smudge."

Eva rolled her eyes.

"I bought it four years ago…it's been sitting in Mami's garage." Still holding onto her, Cris cocked a head towards the club. "Leaving already?"

Eva twisted her wrist until she was loosely clasping his fingers. The callused digits felt nice against her skin. "It's too crowded in there."

"It's always crowded."

"Yeah, but there are _two_ too many people." Eva said pointedly.

It took a moment, but realization soon dawned for Cris. "John and Natalie?"

"Of course."

"Llanview is too damn small."

The valet returned with Eva's car and another approached Cris, but he waved him off. "It's too early to go home."

Inwardly, Eva perked up. She always got a rush spending time with Cristian and a distraction was sorely needed. "What do you have in mind?"

"Follow me."

She released his hand and was heading for her car when she turned back suddenly. "Hey, what did you say to me anyway? When you pulled up just now?"

"Don't worry." He teased, gunning the Mustang's engine. "It was nothing dirty."

Eva couldn't help feeling disappointed.

************


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Cris had been subjected to the depressing sounds of metal cell doors, the heavy footsteps of surly prison guards and malicious jeers and taunts from other inmates while in prison. So to him, the incredible racket of crashing pins, blaring classic rock and shouted conversations was a welcome cacophony. Sprawled in a battered red plastic chair, he reveled in the lively atmosphere of the old bowling alley as he nursed a beer and watched his protégé line up her shot.

"Like this?" Eva glanced over her shoulder, seeking Cristian's guidance on the proper stance.

"Perfect." Cris nodded, approving the stance and the view. Not a lot of women could pull off a sexy black dress and neon orange bowling shoes.

As she glided forward and propelled the ball into the lane, Eva's hem rode high up toned brown thighs. The ball careened into the two remaining pins and they teetered dramatically before finally toppling over. She'd picked up her first spare and she celebrated the victory by jumping up and down, ample bottom bouncing enticingly. Cris' eyes were riveted. Friends or no, what man could turn a blind eye to all that prettiness?

A smug Eva swaggered towards him, competitive spirit now fully unleashed. "What was that you were saying a minute ago? 'You'll bowl a spare when Bush can pronounce nuclear?'"

Cris slid the score card across the table and tapped the row of red Xs trailing his name. "Almost a perfect game, babe. And you wanna brag about one spare?"

The bravado faded some as she plopped into the seat next to him and glared ruefully at the card. "I still did pretty good for someone who's never bowled before."

"That you did." He tipped his beer to her.

She was sipping her own brew when she spied the large Coca-Cola clock mounted above the lanes. "I didn't know it was _that_ late."

"A quarter past twelve is late to you?"

"I'm all about pajamas, chocolate cake and _I Love Lucy_ reruns."

"There's an old spinster next door to Mami who likes _I Love Lucy_ too."

Eva threatened him with an enormous orange shoe.

"Stay and have another beer." Cris urged, reaching across the rickety table to cover her hand. He knew she was worn out, probably had barely slept since taking on Todd Manning as a client. But he was in a rare selfish mood and quietly desperate for company. The thought of returning alone to his bleak apartment was not appealing.

"You're a good-looking man. Got that whole sexy Latin artist thing going on." Eva teased, cupping his hand and tapping fingers lightly against his palm. "You should be out with some hot young thing."

If only she knew what he'd been up to last night.

"Do I know any hot young things?" Eva was musing out loud.

"You trying to hook me up?"

"Trying to help you move on. That's what friends do."

And she was a good friend. Not at all as conniving as a certain someone believed her to be. "That reminds me of something Natalie said about you."

Eva shook her head vehemently, lips pressed tightly together.

"What?"

"Can I be brutally honest?"

Withdrawing his hand, Cris took up his beer again, steeling himself for the lecture he knew was coming. "Be brutal."

Exhaling slowly, Eva plunged ahead. "I don't think you're in love with Natalie."

His first instinct was to deny it and ream Eva for daring to suggest she knew what he was feeling. But his anger was checked seconds later when he realized he'd been questioning those feelings himself lately. And though he was a little pissed by her declaration, he motioned for Eva to continue.

"Your life was sort of in limbo while you were in prison and all you thought about was Natalie, because that was all you knew. So of course you were going to cling to her and try to pick up your life where you left off."

Cris weighed her words silently as he downed the rest of his beer and bit back a sardonic retort. Miss Eva was some piece of work. Hadn't she been whining about John on Valentine's Day?

"Seriously Cris, if you'd never gone to prison and you and Natalie had broken up, would you still be trying to win her back after she dumped you the way she did? Can you honestly say you're in love with a person who you haven't emotionally or physically interacted with for over a year?"

"You don't believe people can still love each other when their separated?"

"I believe a mother or brother can love you like that. But a wife? Or a boyfriend?" Eva sighed. "I'm a bit cynical about love these days, so ignore me."

"No." Cris shook his head, because he really could see her point of view. "I hear what you're saying. But I know how I feel."

"Natalie has shown no interest in moving forward with you. So why are you still hanging on?"

"It's not that easy to let go." Cris bit out. "Aren't you still in love with - "

Lightning quick, Eva threw up a hand. "Oh no, no, no. We are not talking me and John and I'm certainly not running around town telling him and anyone who'll listen that I love him and I'm going to get him back. "

They glared at each other for a good minute before Eva slumped dejectedly. "You're right, I am pathetic. We're both sick, Cris. I say we help each other form an Assholes Anonymous or something."

Cris chuckled, cause Eva was cute when determined and hilarious when she swore.

"We should do the whole spiel…you know the…okay, I'll start." Her expression turned solemn. "Hello, my name is Evangeline..."

"Hello, Evangeline."

"…and I'm an assoholic."

"Y muy loco."

She took a long sip of beer as she crossed her leg and sent one neon orange foot swaying to and fro. "We need that twelve steps thing too. Step one could be no talking about the assholes."

"Step two, no thinking about the assholes."

"Step three, no pining for the assholes."

"Step four, no breathing the same air as the assholes."

"That one's kind of hard. Llanview is so small."

"You're already fucking up. Go back to step one."

"I'm just saying it's inevitable that we'll run into them. Natalie's practically your sister-in-law and you might be sharing a niece or nephew soon."

"Then step four is amended to no breathing the same air as the assholes for longer than ten minutes."

"A lot of damage can be done in ten minutes. John has this way of looking at you…"

"Go back to step one."

"How about no breathing the same air as the assholes for longer than five minutes?"

"Seven."

"Two."

"I'm tired of this."

"Okay, okay. Let's just agree that they are the axis of evil and we won't be sucked back in. We will not allow them to have power over us again."

Cris extended his hand and they shook on it. "Agreed."

She closed her eyes, tilting her face to the ceiling as she sighed peacefully. "Purging exes is so freeing."

"Most definitely."

She was looking at him again and grinning brightly, although her eyes seemed slightly glazed. "So what do you want to do now?"

Eva was a mess, exhausted and slightly inebriated judging by the way she swayed to her feet. Yet Cris was still selfish enough to want to keep her with him.

"Actually, chocolate cake and _I Love Lucy_ reruns sounds pretty good." Cris rose, slipping an arm around her waist and tucking her close.

"It's rude to invite yourself over." She tsked, leaning into him.

"Can you drive?"

"I'm sleepy, Cris, not drunk." Eva asserted, walking very slowly ahead of him to prove it. At the front counter, they turned in their bowling shoes and Eva looped her arm through his as they headed back into the freezing night. "So what _did_ Natalie say about me?"

"You're giving away the power."

Eva snorted. "She wouldn't know what to do with it anyway."

Cristian relented, latent anger surfacing as he recalled the way Natalie had demeaned his friendship with Eva. "She suggested you might go after me. To get back at her for John."

"I'd go after both you and John. If you're gonna piss someone off, do it right."

************


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Eva didn't like Nora's pallor or the translucent, papery look of her skin. The once vibrant red hair was brittle and lackluster. And she was so thin. Thin and dying, it seemed.

Heart heavy, Eva went about the little ritual she performed whenever she visited her friend. Nora's parched lips were carefully dotted with petroleum jelly, lotion was gently massaged into stiff arms and legs. As she did these things, Eva chatted quietly to Nora about the latest happenings in Llanview, the fascinating legal cases making the news and the goings-on in her own world.

A middle-aged nurse entered the room and gave Eva a benign smile. _Betty_ , her name tag read. Eva wanted to bitch at her, but it wasn't her place. That was for Matthew, Bo or Nora's sister Susannah to do.

Eva quickly tucked the blanket around Nora's legs again and moved to wash her hands. With swift efficiency, Betty checked Nora's vitals and the numerous tubes and devices attached to her. She jotted notes on the patient clipboard and then hooked it to the foot of the bed again before marching out of the room.

So much for bedside manner. Eva was walking back to the bed when the door swung open again.

"Evangeline." Bo acknowledged as he entered the room. His face was haggard, eyes blood shot from lots of worrying and too little sleep.

"How's your dad?" Eva asked immediately, referring to Asa's overnight hospitalization.

"Resting comfortably, but his condition is serious." Bo replied dully, moving to the bed. "I don't think he can take many more heart attacks."

"I'm praying for him." Eva's tone was heavy with sympathy as she gazed sadly at Nora. "Seems like I've been praying for a lot of people lately."

"Does that include John?" Bo asked pointedly.

She had enough to worry about with Todd running amuck in the mountains, begging to be shot by gung ho Feds and the LPD. Now here was Bo, unwittingly encouraging her to break her vow to abstain from all things John McBain.

"John's okay, isn't he?"

"He's fine...just banged up." Bo squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose as he struggled with fatigue. "They're having a time keeping him in bed. Wants to go after Manning."

"Very noble of him." Eva commented dryly.

It had always bothered her that John was so eager to kill himself doing his job. But she'd never voiced that to him, wanting to be the supportive girlfriend, not wanting to rock the boat. She was glad he'd survived the plane crash that had allowed Todd to escape, but she refused to hang around his hospital room, fretting over him for all to see. There was no room for regression. Besides, Natalie was surely doing enough fawning for them both.

"He'll be captured." Bo said confidently of Todd, giving Evangeline a curious once-over. "He'll give us a good chase before then, but we will get him. You'd do well to avoid getting involved if he contacts you."

Eva's expression remained neutral. She'd never really gotten angry with Bo, but that subtle accusation ticked her off.

"You know he's claiming Spencer Truman set him up?"

Now _that_ was news. "Is he?"

"According to John, Manning kept insisting that he'd been framed and that Truman was responsible."

Could that have been the reason for the cryptic message Todd had left on her cell last night? Eva wanted to kick herself for not taking the call, but she'd thought it was John. "What made him think he'd been set up?"

"That's confidential."

"You've told me this much, why leave me hanging now?" Eva harangued impatiently. "I'm his lawyer."

"Not anymore."

Looks like she'd have to see John after all. After taking a last look at Nora, she retrieved her purse and coat. "I have to get to the office."

Bo smirked knowingly. "You won't get much out of John. He's pretty heavily sedated."

Eva ignored him as she stepped into the antiseptic-scented corridor and made her way to the elevator. In the downstairs lobby, she headed for the information desk, intent on gleaning John's whereabouts. Trepidation had her hesitating, but this was about business. This was about Todd and not any perverse need to see her ex.

Just as she reached the desk, the muffled chime of her cell phone sounded in her purse. She pulled it out and flipped it open to see _Cris_ flashing across the tiny screen. An odd feeling of joy and relief swept through her as she pressed the phone to her ear. "You just saved me."

"From what?" Cristian's puzzled voice competed with blaring background noise.

"From going to see John. You heard about the plane crash?"

"Yeah."

There was a long silence as she waited for Cris to say more.

"Wanna know how he is?" Eva asked tentatively.

"Don't really care."

"Wanna know if Natalie is here?"

"Do I really need to ask?"

"Guess not."

"Have you forgotten our pact?"

"Have you forgotten how long it takes to get someone out of your system?" Eva flinched as earsplitting static erupted on the line. "Where _are_ you?"

"East Llanview. So what are you doing for lunch?"

"Eating it at my desk between appointments."

"Meet me at the diner."

"Too much work. Did you want to see me about something important?"

"Sort of."

"Then come to my office around two and I'll order in."

"Cool…see you then."

Putting away the phone, Eva faced the information desk again as conflicting emotions warred within her. In the end, she made the bonehead decision to go see John. At the door of the room where he was being treated, she stopped short upon seeing Natalie practically draped over John's sleeping form. Jealousy, sadness and self-loathing enveloped her as she inconspicuously retreated.

 _Serves me right._

At the office, a steady stream of clients and phone calls from the press wanting statements from fugitive Todd Manning's lawyer kept Eva from agonizing about Natalie and John. By the time her one o'clock was done, she was exhausted, starving and looking forward to a laid back lunch with Cris.

She was looking forward to seeing Cris _period_. He was a boost to her depleted spirits, as he had been last night when they'd commiserated at Ultra Violet over last year's Valentine's Day. And the night before, when he'd come home with her after bowling. Eva giggled out loud at the memory of them eating cake and watching _I Love Lucy_ while Cris made hilariously lewd comments about Ricky's secret lust for Fred.

A huge lunch was waiting for Cris when he arrived a few minutes past two. Eva noted he looked especially good in jeans, a snug T-shirt and a brown leather jacket. He slipped the jacket off as he greeted her, biceps just rippling.

And why was she drooling over his biceps and noting how gorgeous he was? Because she missed sex. The thought hit her out of nowhere and if Eva could blush, she would have. Looking for a distraction, she began piling a paper plate high with the smorgasbord of Italian food and handed it to Cris.

"What's going on with you?" She asked, kicking off her heels and fixing herself a plate.

"Gotta job." Cris mumbled around a mouthful of ziti.

"I know…boxing." Eva sank into her chair.

Cris shook his head. "At the steel mill. My parole officer hooked me up."

"So that's what you were doing in East Llanview." Eva contemplated him as savored her pasta, the flavors of basil and tomatoes bursting in her mouth. "You gave up boxing for Natalie, didn't you?"

"You suck at this AA thing. We agreed not to talk about _her_ or _him_. And I decided for myself that I didn't want to fuck up my hands."

"Then congratulations." Eva amended, giving him an apologetic smile. "When do you start?"

"Tomorrow night." Cris picked at his lunch, forehead furrowing. "You don't think it's beneath me, do you?"

"Please, Cris." Eva couldn't believe he would even question a good, honest job. "My grandpa worked as a janitor and a busboy and put my dad and his brother through college. Work is work. It's union, right?"

Cris nodded.

"Good wages and you can still do your art. Sounds like you made the right decision to me."

"Only thing is, I work weird shifts. Sometimes graveyard, sometimes late afternoon. We won't be able to hang out as much."

"First Layla abandons me and now you."

They put away most of the enormous lunch while discussing his new job and Eva's earlier visit with Nora. She told Cris about Todd's theory that Spencer Truman had framed him and fretted about how her client was surviving up in the cold mountains. Cristian listened to it all quietly with hardly any comment except a murmur of sympathy here and there. Eva found she wasn't bothered by it at all, because she could see and feel that he truly cared about what she was going through. He offered no meaningless platitudes, just genuine love and support. It was almost like having Nora back again.

Nearly an hour later, he crushed his empty paper plate and dumped it in a nearby trash can. "Wanna do something tonight?"

Eva shook her head, standing to clean the lunch remnants. "I want to work on Todd's appeal. I found some really good precedents…"

"Appeal?" Cris interrupted, rounding the desk as he gaped at her in disbelief. "He shot a guard, escaped McBain, stole a police car, has the Feds and the LPD chasing him and you're still talking appeal?"

Defending a numskull fugitive _was_ ludicrous, but Evangeline couldn't give up on Todd just yet. "He's innocent. And I hate - _hate_ \- losing."

Moving closer, Cris cupped her face with his hands, rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks. As nice as it felt, Eva wanted a canyon between her and Cris…her and any man. She was too vulnerable to be in this position.

"You work too hard." Cris voiced his concern, gaze locked with Eva's. He had the prettiest brown eyes, she thought. "You put everyone else's needs and problems above your own. You need a distraction. Preferably male."

Eva dismissed that notion. Having a man was so overrated. Having sex though…

"You need to…I don't…" Eva pried his fingers from her face. "Go home."

"A hotshot lawyer's supposed to have a better comeback." Cris hands drifted downward to rest on her shoulders. "And a beautiful woman should have men chasing after her. When's the last time you had a date?"

So he thought she was beautiful? Eva was still annoyed with him. "Mind your own business, Cristian Vega."

"I thought we were friends?"

"As friends, I can tell you to kiss my ass and mind your own business."

"Substituting sex for work ain't healthy."

Eva gasped and punched him in the chest. "Fuck you."

Cris laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners. "You've been hanging around Manning too long."

"And you."

"And me. You know a good man could cure you of that filthy mouth. You _need_ a distraction."

" _You're_ my distraction."

"I am?" Cristian's brows lifted in surprise, pretty eyes gleaming. He backed her into her desk, feigning seduction. Or was he? "Then I haven't been doing my job."

"Stop playing." Eva thumped his forehead.

Unfortunately, Cris did stop, just when Eva was starting to enjoy the more-than-friendly attention. He tugged her into a hug, a nice long one that had him squeezing her gently and rocking her back and forth. Eva had hugged Cris before, but there was a decidedly sensual vibe to this embrace. She pressed hands flat against chest and tried not to squeal at the feel of his groin pressing into her belly. With her nose buried in his neck, she inhaled the sexy mingled scent of warm male and Ivory soap and little pinpricks of excitement skittered up her thighs.

"I have to go."

Cris released her abruptly, so abruptly Eva almost wanted to scream. Her whole body was tingling, but her voice and demeanor were calm as she sagged into her chair. "Where're you off to?"

"I promised to help out at the diner." Cris slipped on his jacket, cool and beautiful and not at all as affected by their encounter as Eva was. He turned and aimed a look at her. "So how about a movie tonight?"

Go out with Cris when she was having wicked thoughts about him? Hell. No. "Think I'll stay in. Maybe go to bed early."

Cris paused a moment, cocking his head to one side and studying her quietly. A crooked, knowing smile lifted one corner of his mouth and Eva wanted badly to plant her fist right in the middle of it.

"I'll call you tomorrow then. Thanks for lunch." He gave her a casual wave as she he exited the office.

Eva stood immobile as she stared dumbfounded at the office door, unnerved and _dammit_ …still tingling.

************


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Cristian questioned the wisdom of placing himself in the presence of the woman who'd set off his libido. Yet here he stood at Evangeline's door, the remembered feel of that tight little body still screwing with his senses. Served him right for deliberately flirting with her. His teasing had backfired on him and left him on edge the rest of the day. Carlotta had even banned him from the diner after he'd broken three plates and scorched _two_ batches of rice.

Propping a large canvas against his legs, Cris ran fingers through his unruly hair, straightened his leather jacket, smoothed the wrinkles from his knit shirt. He stopped short when he realized he was primping.

 _What the fuck am I doing?_ Hefting the canvas again, Cristian jabbed the doorbell.

The door cracked open a fraction and Eva's eye came into view. "What're you doing here?"

"Mrs. Williamson didn't teach you better than that?"

"Mrs. Vega didn't teach you to call?"

"Now that we've established that we're both uncouth." Cris held up the carefully wrapped canvas. "I finished your painting."

The eye widened. "Really?"

"Can I talk to _all_ of you?"

"I'm not dressed."

"Now I really wanna talk to all of you."

The eye rolled. "Let me throw on some clothes."

The door closed and opened ten minutes later. _Ten_.

"Did you make the clothes?"

"I told you I wasn't dressed." Eva snapped, shutting the door behind him and leading him towards the sofa. "I just got out of the shower."

She was decidedly bitchy this evening, but she did smell good. Like peaches. And the jogging pants she wore were clingy, hanging low on her hips and stretching smoothly across a firm, apple-shaped rump. Cris wondered if she were wearing panties. Or going commando. No, not straight-laced Eva. Maybe a thong…

"…I've…beer…"

Cris blinked. "What?"

Eva faced him, glaring at Cris as if she knew he'd been ogling her ass. "Would you like a beer?"

He detected a hint of annoyance in her and it annoyed him in turn. "You pissed that I came over without calling?"

"No." Eva sighed, even more irritated. "Beer?"

Eyeing the mess of files and paperwork littering the sofa and coffee table, Cris figured Miss Eva was simply overworked. Her eyes were bleary and her shoulders were slightly drooped in exhaustion.

Stepping closer, Cris placed a hand over her shoulder and squeezed gently. His fingers slid to her nape and encountered a plum-sized knot. Instantly he began kneading the tightly coiled muscle and smiled smugly as Eva purred, eyelids fluttering close. "Do _you_ want a beer?"

"I want you to keep doing that." Eva sighed, chin dropping to her chest and arms dangling in front of her as her whole body went boneless. Soft little moans of pleasure punctuated the silence and though they were innocent in nature, Cris still wondered if she made the same noise when she was…

"Let's go do something." He suggested quickly, dropping his hand when he realized he was doing more caressing than massaging.

Eva's lips formed a little moue of disappointment at the abrupt end to the massage. "Show me my painting first."

Lifting the canvas to the sofa, Cristian unwrapped it and then moved to stand close to Eva, his eyes darting intermittently between her face and the painting. Her opinion of this piece was extremely important to him. There was always and element of apprehension when showing his work, but Cris couldn't recall feeling it as intensely as this.

Seconds dragged by. Eva's expression was ambiguous as she stared at the two nude, entwined torsos, one olive-hued, one a rich brown. Hard planes and soft curves identified them as male and female and shadow and light cast them in an almost ethereal glow.

"This is a very dangerous painting." Eva murmured finally, a hint of sensuality in her tone.

"Why do you say that?"

She simply smiled, angling her head and gazing at the erotic images radiating from the canvas.

"Do you like it?" Cris prompted.

"Please… _like_? I'm in love with it. It's beautiful and emotional and…they look as if they're dancing. But they're naked, so they could be…doing _something else_."

"You never danced naked?"

"Sometimes when I'm getting dressed and listening…" Eva caught herself before she revealed more, scowling at him as she balanced hands on slim hips. "Have _you_ ever danced naked?"

His gaze swept her from head to toe. If he did decide to try it… "Not yet."

Eva was amused by the not-so-subtle once over, but she said nothing as she turned to the painting again. "The way he's holding her, it's like he's worshipping her. And the way her arms are curved…it's like she's supporting him."

Cris was startled by her intuitiveness. While creating the painting, he'd been thinking about Eva. How she'd saved him, encouraged and stood up for him, befriended him. He blamed his subconscious for adding the male into the mix and rendering both figures naked. Maybe he was drawn to Eva, even a little infatuated with her. It was a natural, given how sweet and beautiful she was, but he decided the feelings would fade eventually. As long as he didn't act on them, there was no problem. Being into Eva would be a good thing if he weren't still hung up on Natalie and unwilling to risk losing one of the few friends he had.

"Maybe they're embracing." Eva was still in art connoisseur mode. "But they definitely look as if they're…doing _something else_."

"Dios mio, Eva, _making love_." Cris said in amused exasperation. "We're both adults here."

Eva raised a hand to her head, a mannerism Cris always thought adorable. "Honey, you're a good friend, but you're not Layla. Or Nora. There are some things I just don't feel comfortable discussing with you."

"Yet." Cris noted the sad turn her tone had taken at the mention of Nora. He would give anything to make that sadness go away. "There's nothing you can't talk to me about. _Nothing_."

"Let's talk about doing something then." Eva brightened, mood swinging quickly. "I'm tired of looking at cases."

She ultimately left the choice of recreation to Cris and he chose a movie. Something about being in a darkened theater with Eva appealed to him. They chose seats in the very back, away from the rest of the sparse crowd. When she draped his jacket over her and leaned against him, Cris slipped and arm around her. Innovative car chases and ribald humor exploded across the enormous screen, but concentrating on the movie was difficult. Eva's presence was that palpable and she looked exceptional in those jeans. Her black hair was soft against his hand and he coiled a glossy lock of it around his fingers before sliding them up her nape and into her scalp, massaging rhythmically.

Though her eyes remained on the screen, they flared briefly. Cris checked a smile, returning his attention to the movie. Yeah, he was skating on thin ice, but he was enjoying the hell out of it. Harmless flirting. That's all it was.

Eva's head lolled back against his arm as the movie's hero began slashing his way through his enemies with a wicked-looking machete. Her lips were slightly parted, as if she were amazed by the gore on the screen. Cris hoped she was amazed by him. Fingers skimmed down her nape again, over her throat and into her pullover to skim along the collar bone…

"Cris." Evangeline hissed, grabbing his fingers to still them.

Pulling his arm from around her, Cris put a safe five inches between them, sinking further into his seat and forcing himself to concentrate on the movie. By the time they left the theater, he couldn't remember what they'd just seen, but he did remember that Miss Eva's skin was as silky as it looked.

"You wanna get something to eat?" Cris asked when they were in the Mustang and pulling out of the parking lot.

Eva slumped in her seat, observing the passing suburban landscape. "No."

"You wanna go home?"

"No."

What else was there to do in Llanview on a Friday night? It had to be something safe, cause Cris was doing a piss poor job of not acting on his feelings.

"Let's just drive around." Eva proposed, tuning the radio to a soft jazz station.

They cruised passed the docks, through downtown and onto the highway. Up ahead, Llantano Mountain loomed in the distance and Eva took a particular interest in the landmark. At a bend in the road, Cristian pulled over and the motor idled to a low growl as they admired the panorama of the mountain jutting majestically from the valley below. Against the backdrop of blue-black sky and glittering stars, it made for a romantic nightscape. Not a safe setting to be in. Just when he was about to shift into first and take off, Eva slipped out of the car.

"What're you doing?" He leaned into the passenger seat to glare at her.

"I just want to look down." Eva called over her shoulder as the door slammed shut.

"Mierda."

Cris cut the engine and exited the Mustang, walking round it to join Eva at the high guard rail. Even with the full moon and the car's headlights illuminating the area, the floor of the valley couldn't be seen.

"A semi could come along and smash my car to hell." He complained, scooting close behind her as frigid wind slashed them.

"Or us." Eva reminded him wryly as she jiggled to keep warm.

"As long as the car's okay."

"Pitiful."

"I put a lot of work into it." Cris argued, inching even closer.

Grasping the rail, Eva bowed low to peer into the valley and instinctively Cris looped an arm around her waist. Wrong move. Eva's bottom was now wedged snug to him. She straightened again, her back flush against Cris' chest. But she didn't move, just tucked her hands in her pockets and gazed at Llantano Mountain. Cris' mind went wild with all the different ways he could touch her. Even as he thought it, his hand was slipping down…down…

"You're playing with fire." Eva said quietly.

The hand rose again and hooked in the belt loop of her jeans, the other snaking around to press into her belly. If she weren't so soft and didn't smell so good, he wouldn't be dipping his nose into her hair, rubbing his face against hers, pressing his mouth against her neck...

"We should go." Eva said, slowly extricating herself, as if she were hoping he'd protest. She slipped around him and climbed back into the car.

Cris remained where he was, letting the wind whip him to his senses. This close to the mountain, the temperatures were infinitely colder and he appreciated the chill. It took a few minutes for his body to cool and once it did, he returned to the car and revved the engine.

"Where to now?" Eva asked all casual, but she was feeling him. She was definitely feeling him.

"Back to your place." If they lingered any longer, he was hauling her into the back seat. Eva deserved better than the back seat.

The return drive was accentuated by mind-blowing sexual tension. Cris should have known not to start something he couldn't finish. Sleep would be impossible. Now he was going to have to call Dana. The quicker he was away from Eva, the easier it would be to recover from his bout of stupidity. But when they arrived at her apartment building, of course Cris had to help her from the car. And it was only right to see her safely inside.

"So I'll call you." Cris told her once she was standing in her doorway. "'Night."

"You're not coming in?" Eva protested, doe-eyed and enticing as she toyed with the tail of his jacket. "It's only a little after midnight."

She was killing him. "Now who's playing with fire?"

Letting go of his jacket, she retreated a short distance inside the dimly lit apartment, full lips curving upward, persuasive without doing or saying a damn thing. He got the impression she was challenging him and he liked challenges. Especially from women as complex as Miss Eva.

"I can stay a little while." He conceded, stepping inside and locking the door behind him.

Eva backed slowly into the living room, sliding out of her jacket. "You want that beer now?"

Cris shook his head as he followed, eyes locked with hers as he eased off his own jacket and tossed it at the chair. It collided midair with hers and both landed in a tangle on the floor. Their reverse progress was halted when Eva bumped into the side of the sofa and there they stood, toe to toe, bodies tense, each waiting for the other to give a sign, make a move. Cris held back deliberately, intending to give her a moment to change her mind. Anything done from here on in he didn't want her to regret.

But that only lasted a second. Curiosity got the best of him and Cris dipped his head and brushed his mouth against Eva's very slowly. Her lips were still cold from the elements, but infinitely soft and pliable. Amazing. But the best way to experience something this sweet was prone on a plush surface.

"Where's Layla?" Cris whispered, hands spanning her waist to guide them in the direction of the bedroom.

"Working…Capricorn." Eva breathed, hands slipping up his arms as she tipped her head back.

Cris closed his mouth over hers again, slowly sucking that plump lower lip, sweeping his tongue against hers before lifting his head again. Sublime. "Working how long?"

Without answering, Eva pulled him into a deeper kiss, rendering him witless. A steamy five minutes later, she pressed her face against his neck and began gently nipping. Now that he could breathe, Cris could think rationally again. Lord knows he appreciated her enthusiasm, but he wasn't about to be caught by the quintessential nosey ass little sister. He tried to steer Eva towards her bedroom, but she shut him down. The sofa it was.

A whoosh of breath escaped her as they tumbled onto the cushions, but Eva was admirably single-minded, mouth remaining fused to his neck. Cris found himself wedged between slim thighs and quickly moved to lie alongside her. No use in torturing himself when this was going no further than kissing. Which was not an easy feat with Eva unwittingly stirring up all sorts of previously dormant emotions…joy, hope, peace…. stuff he hadn't felt in ages.

After long moments of trying, _really_ trying to satisfy themselves with just kissing, kissing turned into caressing and caressing turned into something hotter, more urgent. Eva's warm palms were teasing the exposed skin of his abdomen. Cris wondered if he lifted a bit… _yes_! There the hands went, up his shirt and over his pecs, slim fingers grazing his flat nipples. Hot and cold sensations shot straight to his crotch. Obliged to return the favor, Cristian sent his hands up Eva's blouse, snatching at the fabric until it was bunched over her bra. He fastened lips to her neck as he rolled them to their sides, fumbling for the clasp. Only Eva's throat clearing stilled his hands.

Her hand was working magic down the front of his jeans, but her breasts were off limits? Well…Eva rubbing her thigh against his crotch more than made up for being denied. The throat clearing came again, louder and more insistent. Cris was so caught up in the mélange of feelings Eva was wringing from him, it didn't register that there was no way she could be clearing her throat with her tongue down his until a male voice erupted in the darkness.

"I think the clasp is in the front."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

 _Yes, dammit, the clasp is in the front!_

The sexual fog surrounding Eva was thick and apparently stupefying or she would have realized there was no way Cris could've uttered that statement with her tongue doing somersaults in his mouth. All she knew was that he was too damn slow. Her bra should have been gone three, four minutes tops.

Impatience and a seven-month draught had Eva reluctantly removing her hand from Cristian's chest and hurriedly reaching up to unhook the bra herself. But there came no delicious touch of large, rough hands on her breasts, only cool air. That warm, heavy weight pressing her into the sofa cushions was suddenly gone as Cris went rolling off her. His momentum abruptly dislodged the hand down his jeans and too late Eva felt her nails scrape skin. Cristian hissed a succinct and guttural, "Shit!"

Evangeline struggled upright, a bit pissed, a little frustrated and a whole lot of confused. In the dimness, she glared at the madman crouched in front of her coffee table, wild amber curls in the eyes aimed at the other side of the room, a big ass something held defensively in one hand. Just as she opened her mouth to scream bloody murder, a disembodied voice came out of the darkness.

"Hey, hey, calm down! It's just me…Todd."

 _Now_ Eva let loose a scream. One of those high-pitched girly ones. Her fugitive client was in her living room and she was sprawled on the sofa, clothes undone, boobs bobbing hello. She dropped to the floor right behind Cris, knocking him hard into the coffee table, triggering another pain-filled, "Shit!"

Light flooded the room and there indeed stood a scruffy Todd, clad in a policeman's uniform and leering down at them. Eva huddled behind Cristian, desperately trying to re-clasp her bra, and screamed again. Just for the hell of it.

Todd held up his hands pleadingly and whispered, "Calm…down. You want your neighbors calling the cops?"

Eva yanked down her blouse and teetered to her feet, adrenaline pulsing in her ears, fingers fisting so tightly they began to hurt. Calm down? Was he serious? A string of angry expletives exploded from her lips. To her own ears, it sounded as if she were speaking in tongues. But Todd ignored her tirade, instead wryly scrutinizing Cristian, who was scowling menacingly and holding an arm against his crotch.

"You alright?" Todd asked, though his tone was anything but concerned.

Cristian replaced the wooden African statue he'd been wielding on the coffee table and gingerly stood. "It's still there."

Todd hooted at that, gaze flickering lewdly between the disheveled pair. "And all I got was a bill."

"You stupid asshole." Eva hurled at him.

Todd flinched, crestfallen at Evangeline's vehemence. "Is that anyway to greet someone who's been through what I have? I came here for help!"

"You. Stupid. Asshole." Eva ripped him again, quietly making a mental note to stop swearing. She'd been doing that a lot lately and it bothered her. What was that saying? Cursing was done by those lacking intelligence. Or some such shit. And why in hell was she thinking about that at a time like this? "Cops and feds are looking for you, ready to shoot you on sight and you come _here_? Do you have any idea what kind of position you've put me in?"

"Obviously not as good as the one you were in with Vega."

Exasperated and scared, Eva turned to Cristian for help, but he was quietly moving towards the fireplace, zipping jeans as he went. He folded his sinewy frame into a chair, draping a thigh over the arm as thick fingers tunneled through his hair and stroked his goatee. His actions were passive, but his eyes were anything but as he watched Todd take a step towards Evangeline.

"I thought you were my friend." Todd groused, gaunt features beseeching and pitiful.

"I am your friend." Eva shifted her gaze to Todd again, annoyed at his attempted manipulation. "Am I still your _attorney_?"

"Yes, yes of course you are. I-I wasn't in my right mind when I -"

"Then as your attorney, I'm advising you to surrender."

"No!" Todd spat out, the veins in his neck and forehead pulsing furiously.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Cristian rising from the chair, but Evangeline waved him back down, wanting no battle royale to bring the neighbors running.

"I demand my attorney-client privilege. Get rid of him." Todd jerked his head towards Cristian.

Head lolling back against the chair, Cris closed his eyes and sunk lower.

"You get the hell outta here before I kick your ass!"

"Big words, pequeño cojones."

"Yours blue?" Todd sneered.

"Yours tattooed? Whose bitch are you at Lehigh?"

"Enough!" Eva squeezed her eyes shut and scrubbed at her face, dug her fingers into her scalp agitatedly. "Enough, enough, enough!"

She sounded on the verge of a nervous breakdown and both men were cowed immediately. During the blessed silence, Eva's mind scrambled for solutions before deciding on the first course of action. Cristian had to go. There was no way she could talk sense into her client with him there. As if this bizarre scene were par for the course, he remained lounging in the chair, cool and observant.

"Cris, would you…I think you should leave."

Todd smirked smugly. Cristian just stared at her.

"Please?"

"She told you to leave." Todd echoed gleefully.

The other man was merely background noise to Cristian, intent on silently challenging Eva. _"I'm not leaving"_ , he seemed to be saying. _"And you don't want me to."_

Usually Eva stood her ground where personal and professional decisions were concerned, but she couldn't deny that she was somewhat wary having a suicidal Todd in her home. She gave Cristian a look that begged for compromise. "Kitchen?"

Nodding, Cristian rose from the chair, sauntering by Todd at dangerously close proximity, taking his sweet time as he exited the room.

"He'll call the police." Todd laughed, but his voice cracked wretchedly. "That guy hates me."

"He won't call the police."

"How do you know?"

"I trust him. He's a good friend."

"I wish I had a _friend_ who gave hand jobs."

"Stop being vulgar." Eva reprimanded, itching to punch him in the throat.

"He's a bum." Todd said, superior even now. "You must be pretty hard-up."

"You're judging me after that boneheaded stunt you pulled?"

"I had to do something!"

"Like _appeal_?"

"I didn't think it would make a difference until Paige Miller came to see me."

"What's she got to do with this?"

Eva listened intently as Todd stuttered a tale about Paige Miller's Lehigh visit and her cryptic implication of Spencer Truman as Margaret's true murderer. Taking that phone call from John probably would have prevented all this madness, but what was done was done. An innocent man she'd done a piss-poor job of defending was standing in Eva's living room, marked for death, wasted, starving, needing a saving hand. She was obligated to give him help.

"Can I stay here tonight?"

But not _that_ kind of help. "Oh God, Todd…"

"Just for tonight." Todd begged, grabbing her arms, woebegone to the nth degree. "I can't face going back to Lehigh tonight."

Guilt trumped the anxiety churning inside her and the uneasiness of knowing Todd may have seen her topless. She _was_ responsible for him in a way.

Twisting out of the uncomfortable death-grip he had on her, Eva asserted, "Just for tonight. And you have to promise to turn yourself in tomorrow."

"What about Truman?"

"I'll run it by Bo. _After_ you turn yourself in." Eva reiterated, not letting him get away with not promising to do so. "Wait here."

Cristian was two beers in when Eva entered the kitchen. He was leaning against the counter nursing the second one, eyes aimed at the door as if he were expecting her. An eyebrow arched in silent question. Eva squirmed under the scrutiny. To think a half hour ago she'd been squirming under that body. And those lips. And those hands. Even now, she wanted to fall against him and pick up where they'd left off and she berated herself silently for thinking about seducing Cristian while surrounded by such drama.

 _Lord, he's going to be livid_ , Eva thought as she approached Cris warily, then defiantly. He wasn't the boss of her. She was a grown ass woman. "Todd's staying the night."

Cristian turned his eyes heavenward before dropping his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, as if Eva were the bane of his existence.

"He just wants some time to rest…regroup." Eva explained, wanting to reassure Cristian that she was in control. "He's going to turn himself in tomorrow."

Eva's father had given her looks like the one Cris was skewering her with now. "He'll talk you into helping him get away and you'll do it because you feel guilty for losing his case."

Eva didn't like being read, especially not correctly. "Go home, Cris."

"Leave you alone with _him_?"

"He won't hurt me."

"Ask Nora about what having Todd Manning for a client gets you."

"That was an ugly thing to say."

"It's only ugly because it's the truth."

"I don't like being treated as if I'm too stupid to make my own decisions."

"Make better decisions."

Now she was helpless _and_ stupid?

Cristian touched her chin, tried to gentle some sense into her. "I don't want someone with Manning's history and nothing to lose alone here with you and Layla."

 _Layla_. Evangeline had forgotten all about her sister, who could be home at any moment. She tugged Cristian's hand away, squeezing it reassuringly between her own. "No worries...I-I'll call her and tell her to sleep somewhere else."

"That's nice." Cris banged the empty beer bottle on the counter top. "Where the hell is she gonna go?"

"Why are you stressing me?" She released his hand and went pacing around the kitchen. "I'm already about to lose it!"

"Then get rid of him." Cristian said matter-of-factly, as if he were running the show. As if his word were law.

"Why don't I get rid of you instead?" Eva suggested scathingly, because she already had one hotheaded nitwit too many to deal with.

For a nanosecond, one of Daddy's I'm-bout-to-turn-you-over-my-knee looks, flashed across Cristian's beautiful features. Just as quickly, it was gone, and so was he. The whoosh of air that hit her as he stormed away was like a smack in the face. She instantly regretted her actions, but by the time she came to her senses and hurried from the kitchen, Cristian was out the front door.

"He'll call the police."

Eva turned as Todd approached her, startled because she'd forgotten he was there. "He won't."

Todd only shrugged. "Got anything to eat?"

While the fugitive raided the kitchen, Evangeline called Layla and begged her sister to find another place to sleep that night. Layla of course had a million questions, including the obvious one.

"You got a man over there?"

Eva gave enough vague answers so Layla _would_ think she and some phantom man were screwing bald spots in the floor. When she was finally able to hang up, Evangeline gathered blankets to make up the sofa for Todd as he sat on the floor and wolfed down peanut butter sandwiches. All the while, thoughts of what could happen to her if she was caught aiding and abetting a fugitive haunted her. Law license revoked. Jail time. Her mother and Uncle Clay shamed, upset and worried about her. Layla left alone with no big sister to take care of her until she got her act together.

An ominous pounding on the door pulled her out of her imagined hell. Frozen momentarily, they exchanged frantic looks before Todd scrambled to his feet, nearly upending the coffee table as he skittered into the hall closet.

Eva took a deep breath as she eased to the door, calling out in a composed voice, "Who is it?"

"Me."

Relief flooded her at Cristian's muffled reply. Back to make up and insist again on staying with her no doubt. But seeing the look on his face when she opened the door, Eva knew that was not the case.

"What did you do?" She demanded, the dread almost choking her.

"Called in an anonymous tip." Cris strolled past her, scanning the room for Todd.

Eva's mouth fell open as Todd burst out of the closet, incensed and trembling. "You fucking -"

"The cops'll be here any minute." It was Cristian's turn to taunt Todd. "I'd run if I were you. Or maybe you like being sandwiched between those guards at Lehigh?"

Todd ran. Gave Evangeline a forlorn look, Cristian one that promised painful retribution and flew out the front door. Eva took after him, just in time to see him disappearing down the stairwell.

When Eva reentered the apartment, Cristian was standing there, neither smug nor triumphant, but he certainly wasn't contrite. Eva was stung by that more than anything.

"I…" She was semi-speechless and floored. "…I can't believe you did that to me. Todd's gone, but you've still brought attention to me. What if I'm investigated…interrogated?

"Lie. You were going to anyway." Cristian pinned her with another censuring look before heading for the door, calling out parting words as he went. "If I were you, I'd wipe down everything Manning touched. Just in case."

He was gone again. Evangeline stood there a lifetime staring incredulously at the door before fear spurred her into ridding all evidence of Todd's presence. Every surface Todd had made contact with was meticulously scrubbed, the makeshift bed dismantled, a half-eaten sandwich disintegrated in the disposal. When everything was spotless and in its place, Eva wandered aimlessly about her apartment, cursing Cristian for shattering her trust in him, sending up prayers, and fighting back tears before she realized an hour had passed.

An hour? The LPD were slow, but an hour slow? Coming after a notorious fugitive?

The clouds broke and Eva went from agony to rage in five seconds flat. "That…that…son-of-a- _bitch_!" Stalking to the phone, she viciously stabbed out Cristian's number, wishing the tiny buttons were his head. Either one.

He picked up on the seventh ring, the sound of rustling sheets preceding his lethargic greeting. "Evangeline."

Eva blasted him. "You didn't call the police, you -"

"It took you an hour to figure that out?"

"My client's out there by himself now with no help, no place to go!"

"And you're safe at home. Alone. You wanna fuck up your life, find some other way to do it that doesn't involve prison time."

Wasn't he the betrayer in this scenario? Why was _he_ angry with _her_? "You -"

"I gotta get some sleep…split shift tomorrow. 'Night, Evangeline."

"I -"

 _Click_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Then she handcuffed me to the bed and made me her b!tch."

Cristian zoned in at the raunchy words, the diner and Antonio swimming into view. "What?"

" _Now_ you listen to me."

Closing bleary eyes, Cristian rubbed fingers against sleepy-heavy lids. "I've been listening, Antonio."

"So what was I talking about?"

"Jess…that prick Nash…baby…integration."

Antonio draped an arm over the back of the booth and worriedly examined his younger brother. "You work too hard, hermanito."

"The shifts are all over the place." Cristian sagged lower against the vinyl seat, his aches birthing aches. "I'll be fine once I'm use to them."

After a week laboring at the steel mill, Cristian felt ancient. His job was low on the totem pole, but all kinds of backbreaking. Lifting and hauling tons of scrap metal had taken a toll on muscles he prided on keeping toned. But they too would get used to the work. Then maybe he could brush his teeth without screaming.

"If you need money…"

"I'm not taking your money." Cristian growled, angry that he had to expel energy to tell Antonio that again.

"Mami and I are just concerned that you're neglecting your art. You know Papi -"

"My art is my livelihood. Until it makes money, I have to do something else."

"And kill yourself doing it?"

"Yes."

Cristian gulped down his coffee, masking the pain even that simple act yielded. He should have gone straight home from his graveyard shift to his blessed shower and beloved bed, but he was starving and too bone weary to make his own meals. Mami was in the kitchen now, personally cooking his breakfast after pouring his coffee, massaging his shoulders and plying him with some inky black liquid she swore would strengthen his immune system. Cristian usually dreaded the doting, but this day he relished being a mama's boy.

"Now, mijo." Carlotta, smelling of cinnamon and paprika, returned and placed an enormous plate laden with food in front of her youngest son. "You eat every bite. I don't want you losing weight or getting sick or -"

"Don't baby him, Mami."

"You let Mami do her thing." Cristian winked at his mother, picking up a fork to spear perfectly scrambled eggs.

"Muchacho del mama." Antonio taunted. His attempt to pilfer bacon was met with a swift smack.

"You've already eaten." Carlotta reprimanded, scowling a warning at her eldest before retreating to the kitchen.

Rubbing his stinging hand, Antonio watched ruefully as Cristian shoveled food into his mouth. "I'm glad someone's looking out for you. Taking care of Jess has me stretched thin."

Cris steeled himself for another round of whining, but none came. With dark head bowed, Antonio absently traced circles on the tabletop, the weight of his personal life obviously heavy on his mind and heart. Cristian hated seeing his brother so forlorn. Especially over a damn Lord-Buchanan woman.

"Antonio."

Head snapping up, Antonio's obsidian eyes held surprise. "That was…spooky. I thought Papi was calling me. You sounded just like he did, you know? When he was about to say something you didn't wanna hear?"

Cris regarded him solemnly. "I'm about to say something you don't wanna hear."

"Well." Antonio went back to making his circles. "Probably needs to be said."

Angling back in case Antonio swung on him, Cristian said. "If the baby turns out to be Brennan's, maybe you should think about ending things with Jess."

Antonio chuckled bitterly. "You're blunt like Papi too."

Cristian leaned forward again, pushing away his plate with the forearms he rested on the table. "There's nothing wrong with not wanting to deal with the kind of baggage Jess has. You have Jamie to think about. Family comes first, man."

"You haven't said anything I haven't thought about myself." Antonio sighed, noticeably ashamed at the admission as his mood plunged even deeper into despair.

Cristian instantly regretted adding to his brother's sadness. His own cynical view of relationships shouldn't be forced onto others. Besides that, Jessica was a good person, not nearly the selfish b!tch her sister was. "You know, ignore me man. I'm jaded."

"I've noticed. How are things with Natalie?"

"Natalie who?"

"You _are_ jaded."

"I'm _divorced_."

For a long moment, they both brooded in silence and then Antonio slid from the booth and slapped his brother on the shoulder, unmindful of the pain he'd inflicted. "You get some rest, alright? And in spite of everything I've got going on, call me if you need me. Family _does_ come first."

Cristian pulled his gaze from his brother's slumped and retreating back and returned to his breakfast, intent on cleaning his plate for Mami's sake. He was just finishing it off when Miss Cool and Detached strutted in.

Evangeline was a sleek study in black, from chignon to mile high heels. She actually acknowledged him with a nod, though she may as well have been greeting the mailman. Cristian deliberately lingered over the cold dregs of his coffee, even though he felt like taking a header into the mug. Debilitating fatigue was no match for a chance to drool over Miss Eva.

At the counter with Carlotta, Evangeline was much more vivacious, engaging in animated small talk as she sipped coffee and picked at a muffin. When she was done, she turned and walked towards Cristian with no hesitation, expression once again Ice Queen-cold. A sharp once-over of his exhausted appearance had her eyes flaring briefly with alarm, but he didn't have time to revel in her concern. It vanished just that quickly.

"Cristian."

So formal. He mimicked her aloof greeting. "Evangeline."

"Layla told me you called?"

"A _week_ ago."

Eva smoothed fingers unnecessarily over her irritatingly perfect hair. "I've been busy."

"Hmm..."

"Was your call important?"

"Apparently not."

"You could have tried harder to contact me if it was."

"Did you come all the way over here - passing two coffee shops and another diner where you could have also bought coffee – to scold me for not begging you to stop giving me the silent treatment?"

They were both momentarily addled by that question, but then Eva snapped back, "Where I buy my coffee has no bearing on the fact that your attempt to apologize was feeble at best."

Frustrated, Cristian pushed hair from his forehead and muttered, "You're a piece of work."

"Your opinions of me are petty and unreasonable given that I'm the injured party."

"Am I on trial?"

"Are you acknowledging that you're guilty of something?"

Cristian was beat and Eva was driving him crazy. "I liked it better when you weren't speaking to me. How 'bout you go back to doing that?"

Eva did go back to doing that. She also remained standing there, regal and perfunctory, sizing him up as if he were a hostile witness.

Cristian gave up the pretense and gestured for her to sit. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Talking about it won't excuse your behavior." Eva propped her briefcase on the table and clicked it open. "Nor make me inclined to speak to you again."

"Dios mío."

"But I'm not above giving you the chance to apologize _properly_."

"For saving your ass?"

"For scaring me to death." Eva said matter-of-factly, but there was a notable wobble to her voice. She cleared her throat, pulled a neat file folder from the briefcase, and slid it towards him.

Cristian flipped open the folder but barely glanced at the web printouts inside. That small slip in her façade evoked twinges of guilt, guilt that his stubbornness and fierce need to protect her hadn't allowed him to feel until now. He watched her shuffle papers inside her briefcase, mouth compressed tightly, eyes blinking rapidly as if she were holding back tears. Now the twinges were monstrous.

Easing to his feet, leg and thigh muscles threatening to collapse, Cristian placed a hand over her busily sorting one and brought his face within inches of hers. "I only meant to keep you safe from Manning and out of jail. Not hurt you."

"Is that an apology?" The question was expectant, demanding and coolly delivered. Eva Esquire was back in control again.

Would it kill her to acknowledge he'd been right this time? Yes it would. So he caved. Because he'd missed her, even though she was anal, high maintenance and talked too much. Back of his fingers against her cheek, he edged her face upwards so she could at least see the sincerity in his eyes. "I apologize."

With index finger and thumb, Eva removed his hand and snapped her briefcase shut. "Apology noted."

But not accepted. He'd heard rumors about her icy persona and now he was experiencing first hand the ball-busting brunt of it. Determined to make some sort of dent in that frosty exterior, Cristian shifted closer, the tips of his dusty work boots grazing her pointed Prada toes. He tugged playfully at her pearl-studded earlobe, deliberately lowered his voice and murmured, "What happens now?"

"Does anything need to happen?" She intoned dryly, twisting her head to free her imprisoned ear. "You go about your business, I'll go about mine."

So cold…so cold. Cristian dropped his hand and his sorry attempt at seduction. "I don't have the energy to beg my way out of the dog house."

"I can see that." Eva gave him the once-over again, his haggard appearance doing more to soften her than his effort to charm. She cupped his jaw, turning his face this way and that as she took in the five o'clock shadow, groggy eyes, and fatigue lines around his mouth. "Why are you so beat?"

Cristian took advantage of her softening by melting against her, forehead resting world-wearily against hers. "Can't sleep."

"Obviously you're working too hard." Her voice was soothing, as were the fingers inching their way into the hair at his temple. Then she jabbed the fingers into his chest and pushed him away, remembering that she was supposed to be angry. "You've got a least another week of me being pissed at you."

"We don't have to be on speaking terms to -"

The inopportune peal of her cell phone interrupted his pitch and Eva stepped a safe distance back to answer it. "Evangeline Williamson."

Despite the noise circulating throughout the diner, Cristian could make out snatches of Rex Balsom's frantic screeching. Todd. Cabin. Help. As she listened, the nuances in Eva's expression went from shock to worry to confusion.

"I'll call you back in five." Eva said quickly, demeanor again chilly as the phone was snapped closed and tucked back into her purse. "I have to go."

Cristian grew furious with her for the dim-witted decision she was about to make and for shutting him out. "Tell Rex his voice carries."

Eva gave him her best blank stare.

"I don't want to continue this friendship from Statesville."

"What makes you so sure this is still a friendship?" Eva retorted, then nodded at the file on the table. "Be sure to look at those."

He stepped in front of her as she tried to leave and she ricocheted off his chest. Strong hands reached out to steady and detain her and Eva growled at him. Both were oblivious to the audience of one keenly observing them from the counter.

"Stop ass-messing around, Cris." Eva hissed, prying fingers from her waist. "I know you're trying to protect me but I swear to you, I'm not going to do anything stupid."

Cristian was disbelieving.

"I promise." The hardness faded a little as she lightly tapped his mouth with her fingers. "And I'll concede three days of silence instead of a week."

"One."

"Deal."

"And I want to know where you're going." He demanded, trying to grasp some sort of power in this mystifying relationship.

"To my office. Call me there in twenty if you don't believe me."

In silent edict, she pointed at the file on the table again and skirted him successfully this time, ebony head held high as she sashayed from the diner. Cris consulted his watch, anxiously beginning the twenty minute countdown. He didn't notice his mother ease up beside him.

"Mijo?"

"Mami." Cristian murmured absently as he continued to peer at his watch, fatigue and worry conjuring up an image of Eva's bullet-riddled body lying prone next to Manning's.

"Is something going on between you and Evangeline?"

Glancing down at his mother, Cristian was at once wary of her sappy expression. "No."

" _Mijo_." Carlotta enthused, clasping her hands together and beaming. "I think she's perfect for you."

With a snort, Cristian retrieved his jacket and eased into it. "Las mujeres son poisen. I'm not getting sucked in again."

Patting her son's arm comfortingly, as if to tell him to face the inevitable, Carlotta took off for the kitchen again, making obnoxious sucking noises as she went.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Chaos reigned at the Llanview Police Department. Evangeline had to park four blocks from the building and hike through a haphazard maze of television news vans, law enforcement vehicles and throngs of reporters and curious spectators. As Bo had promised, Officer Nguyen was waiting for her when she pushed her way to the front of the police barricade. A metal sawhorse was moved aside to allow her through, but a yank on her coat sleeve propelled her backwards into the crowd again.

"Miss Williamson! Comment on your client's capture?"

Cameras went off, the brilliant flashes blinding her momentarily. Evangeline blinked away hazy red circles as she was led to safety. Scoop-hungry reporters shouted out questions and requests for statements as Officer Nguyen guided her into the precinct.

"Sorry about that, Miss Williamson. You alright from here?"

Eva assured him she was and with a tip of his hat, Officer Nguyen returned to the circus outside. When Eva entered the squad room, she found it surprisingly less frenzied. LPD officers and a few federal marshals milled about. Bo was in his office talking to two solemn agents in matching black suits.

John McBain loped into the squad room, appearance worse now than when he'd been in the hospital. A paper cup of murky coffee was in one hand, the other tunneling agitatedly through his unkempt hair. Natalie was dogging his steps, relentlessly scolding him about his health and they both stopped short when they noticed Evangeline. John's eyes softened with concern. Natalie's narrowed ones were a bit more malevolent.

"You can't see him." John stated.

Eva assumed he was referring to Todd and took issue with the abrupt edict. "Pardon me?"

"Manning. You can't see him."

"And why not?"

"Because you're no longer Mr. Manning's counsel."

A slender man in a gray double-breasted trench approached her and Evangeline's first inclination was to run. With his imposing stature, shiny bald head and hawk-like features, he could have been a villain from an old Vincent Price flick. What really made one cagey were his eyes, sinister-looking black orbs hooded by winged black brows.

"Bo asked me to run interference." John jerked his head towards the man. "This is -"

"E. Garner Hawkes." The ghoul politely extended a hand, his mechanical smile revealing sharp white teeth.

"Mr. Hawkes." Evangeline's radar went up as she accessed him. Despite his daunting appearance, his handshake was flimsy, palm damp. She stuck her hand in her coat pocket for a discreet wipe. "No longer Mr. Manning's counsel?"

"That's correct. My firm has been retained by your former client."

And Evangeline realized where she'd heard his name before. E. Garner Hawkes of Drummond, Hawkes and Kipling, a very ruthless law firm with a degenerate but wealthy clientele.

"Former client?" Evangeline's face grew hot and itchy, dread rising like bile in her throat.

"He got here after you and Bo talked." John injected, edging protectively towards Evangeline. "We assumed Manning would call you."

"I apologize if you were inconvenienced." Mr. Hawkes offered condescendingly.

Evangeline was floored. So this was her punishment for refusing to come to Todd's aid at the cabin? What could she and Rex Balsom have done against thirty officers loaded for bear?

"Maybe you didn't make the trip for nothing." John placated. "Balsom's been arrested too. I'm sure he could use a good lawyer."

"I can find my brother an attorney." Natalie interjected, smugly regarding Evangeline, obviously enjoying her rival's public dismissal. "If she couldn't save Uncle Todd, she sure as hell can't save Rex."

"Todd's your uncle now?"

"Alright, alright…claws in, you two." John intervened.

 _No one_ fired her. _No one_ was going to treat her as if she couldn't win this case. Not Todd and not some sleazy lawyer. Evangeline turned to John and demanded, "Get me in to see him."

"Not possible." Hawkes' manner reeked of superiority. "Mr. Manning has made his wishes clear and has specifically requested that you, among others, be barred from visiting him. Your services are no longer needed, Miss Williamson. Good evening."

The ghoul retreated, leaving Eva seething and humiliated. Natalie's gloating smile and John's hound dog look of sympathy went unnoticed. Eva was too pissed that she'd been fired. Her professional reputation would take a hit for this.

John circled a comforting arm around her waist. "Hey…let's talk about it. Got some pizza in my office."

Natalie's instant jealousy almost had Evangeline agreeing. Wasting her time goading her nemesis and sending mixed signals to her ex were not appealing, however. "Thank you, but I think I'll just head home."

The anger didn't really manifest itself until she was away from the squad room and safely in an elevator. There she beat the hell out of the smudged steel panels and screamed. When she emerged into the lobby, she felt a degree better. But what she really needed was fast food therapy.

As she drove through downtown Llanview, the glowing neon sign of a seedy-looking burger joint beckoned. She ordered a feast chock-full of cholesterol, salt and sugar, just the sort of meal a wounded ego needed. Evangeline inhaled the starchy goodness and scarfed down several fries before whipping out of the drive-thru and aiming her car towards home. Somehow, she wound up in front of Cristian's building instead, parked next to his car. He'd told her he'd been having trouble sleeping and hopefully this evening was no exception.

Take out bag in tow, Eva ascended the narrow metal steps to the upper level of Cristian's loft. At the door, she extended a foot to kick out a greeting and was surprised when it eased slowly open.

Door unlocked in this neighborhood at this time of night? Fear for Cristian's safety was immediate, but out of the stillness came the reassuring sound of deep breathing. Peering in the direction of where she remembered the bed to be, Eva could just make out Cristian's prone form sprawled beneath the covers. The relief that she hadn't found him murdered was swiftly followed by irritation at his carelessness.

"Cristian!" She barked as she entered and nudged the door closed, clumsily feeling along walls for a light switch, dropping her precious bag of sustenance as she did. Despite the ruckus, Cris still snoozed. "Cristian!"

Her finger nicked a switch. Adjusting her eyes to the light, Eva's gaze immediately flew to the bed. Cris lay on his stomach, thick arms buried under the pillow his head was buried into and sheets riding dangerously low over bare hips.

Eva gathered up her bags and advanced into the room, depositing her load into a yellow plastic chair, shaking her head. Armageddon probably couldn't wake Cristian, but it certainly had hit this room. Crap was strewn everywhere. Clothes, shoes, sketchpads. Her carefully researched file. Too tired for mundane housework apparently. Cristian seemed to be slaving himself into the ground and Eva didn't like it at all.

"Cris!" Evangeline marched to the bed, then let out a piercing squeal as her feet suddenly flew from under her and she went flying. With a painful thud, she landed on top of Cristian, who shot up so quickly he sent Eva flying again, this time she hitting the floor. Hip and thigh cracked against hardwood, the impact knocking the wind out of her. She rolled to her back and lay still, tears of pain welling in her eyes and shooting through her slim body.

Cristian was now dangling from the edge of the bed, sleep-addled and baffled by the heap of woman on his floor. Eva ripped into him as she struggled to rise, but the curse words came out as pitiful moans. He inched further over the mattress and grasped her arms to assist her, pulling her onto the bed. She collapsed next to him, letting out another pathetic wail, rolling to her good side and burying her face into his pillow.

"You alright?" Cristian asked, his voice a lethargic rumble.

Eva moaned into the pillow, a bit embarrassed and a lot of sore. Quiet reigned for a good five minutes until Eva's pain began to subside and curiosity had her peaking up from the pillow. Cristian was still reclining there, propped on his elbow, a little more awake and staring at her expectedly.

"What're you doing here?"

Evangeline sighed and kneaded a palm into her throbbing hip. "I had a bad day."

Cris nodded, as if that was a plausible explanation for being clobbered out of sleep.

"Your door was unlocked." Eva offered, realizing he was still too disoriented to ask the obvious questions.

Scrubbing a hand across his face, Cristian nodded again.

"Someone could've come in here and murdered you."

"That's not what you were trying to do?"

"I slipped on all that crap on your floor."

"Mmm…"

"I had a bad day. I came to vent. I brought food."

There was incoherent mumbling in Spanish and then her coat and suit jacket were pushed aside. A hand slipped under her to unzip her skirt. "You…uh… lose something?"

"Checking the damage."

Eva opened her mouth to protest again, but her gaze slipped downward. The thin sheet was plastered against his groin and the image it presented left her amazed and speechless. Cristian was unaware and all business though as he carefully peeled down her skirt. Warm breath breezed against her skin, the sensation sending tingles straight to her nipples, but the touch of his fingers barely registered as they skimmed over her battered hip.

"No bones poking through, no broken skin." Cristian pressed gingerly against the swelling injury. "But you'll have a hell of a bruise."

The lacy band arcing across her hip was lifted and snapped back in place, making her start with surprise. Eva stopped ogling his chest to glare a warning at him, but Cristian wasn't intimidated. He took his sweet time straightening her clothes and then gave her ass a soft smack when he was done. "Nice thong."

The throbbing hip was barely registering now. Cristian's sable eyes twinkled as he rubbed the curve of ass he'd just smacked. "Want some ice?"

Eva was trembling with suppressed laughter. "I want you to stop taking advantage of me."

The hand moved up to play in her hair instead. "So…bad day?"

Her mellow mood nosedived instantly. "Todd fired me."

"Congratulations."

"I said 'Todd fired me', not 'Todd crapped me a diamond and it's worth a million dollars'."

"I wouldn't touch something squeezed out of someone's ass for less than ten million." He sat up and glanced around the room.

"I was looking for sympathy and one of your motivational speeches, not -" Eva's indignant protest was cut off when Cristian rolled out of bed bare-assed. "A little warning, please."

Cristian shrugged her off. How could one just swagger around naked in front of someone who'd never seen you naked and not at least feign a little modesty?

"If you're trying to seduce me, it's not working." Eva defiantly gawked at his ass to prove it.

"Then you won't mind if I stay this way?" He paused in slipping on his jeans.

"Jeans on, Cris." Eva sighed, willing her nipples to stop tingling. She was losing this erotically charged battle and Cristian was going to be the sweet death of her. The steamy and sordid details would be plastered all over The Sun. _ESTEEMED ATTORNEY DIES OF VISUALLY INDUCED ORGASM!_

"Gracias." Cristian said, referring to the food as he sat on the edge of the bed and unwrapped a burger. "You know Manning firing you is for the best, right?"

Evangeline got to her knees, ignoring her screaming hip, and scooted down next to him. "You don't understand…"

"Yeah, yeah…justice for the innocent, professional reputation, finishing what you started…I understand." Cristian handed her the burger and dug for another. "Ungrateful asshole client, possible jail time…do _you_ understand? You want those fries?"

"How can you be so blasé about something so important to me?"

"I'm tired, Evangeline. Cry on my shoulder about it tomorrow…tomorrow I'll comfort you in every way I can think of. _Every_ way."

She smacked said shoulder.

"But tonight I'm tired and I've got you about ten minutes from naked. I don't wanna talk about Manning."

"Ten minutes from naked?"

"Fifteen?"

"Maybe if I was drunk."

"I've got tequila."

She rolled her eyes, not taking seriously flirting that was only meant to cheer her.

"Eat. You'll need the energy."

Maybe he _was_ serious.

"I can't eat like this. You need a table." Eva muttered as she took a bite.

"You could eat off me."

Cristian's flirting was obscene. Sweet and sexy, but obscene. She let him stroke her ego while they ate and afterward steered conversation to a safer subject. "So did you look at the file?"

"You mean that tome?" Cristian stole her last soggy fry. "Yeah, I got through half of it."

"And?"

"I didn't think you had that much time on your hands."

"I make time for things that are important to me."

His smile was kilowatt. "I'm important to you?"

"You know you are. Don't let that go to your head." She hefted the file off the floor and flipped it open. "I think this is a better alternative than waiting for Lindsay to decide you're sellable again."

"Maybe. I don't know." Cris balled up a wrapper and tossed it back in the greasy take-out bag. "I appreciate your doing this for me, but hawking my paintings on the internet?"

"What's wrong with the internet? It's prevalent, no more so than in commerce and your work - however much pleasure it gives you and me - is commerce. These are all very legitimate internet art galleries and they've been lucrative for the artists represented. It can't hurt to give it a try."

Cris shook his head. "I'm a traditionalist. I like having art shows, you know? You can laugh at the guy in the orange-striped pants and the uber rich drunk couple banging under the table."

"You sure you're going to _art_ shows?"

He took the folder from her and it thudded loudly when he dropped it to floor again. "Tell you what. I'll consider it if my meeting with this art dealer in Philadelphia doesn't pan out."

"Meeting?" Evangeline experienced a sharp surge of excitement. If anyone deserved a break, it was Cristian. "What meeting? What art dealer?"

He scooped the dinner remnants off her lap and half-heartedly attempted to straighten the room. "This dude…Caesar Blackmore…he saw one of my pieces on a friend's wall. He's got galleries all over...said he's looking for new talent."

"Caesar Blackmore?"

"Yeah. I'm really excited about this…he's like a legend in the art community."

"I know, I've heard of him. But Cristian, he's a kook. Very wealthy, but a real nut."

"He sounded like one on the phone." Cristian kicked clothes into a corner and then flopped on the bed beside her, pushing unruly curls out of his eyes. "Getting my stuff in his gallery could really put me out there."

"I know, but he's still a flake." Eva toed off her heels and reclined on the bed. "You know he caught one of his wives - the fifth or sixth one, I can't remember which - caught her having sex with a painter. Get this. In the garage, in one of Blackmore's antique Aston Martins. Very calmly retrieved his hunting rifle and forced them to detail his car. They had to polish the seats ten times."

"You're shittin' me."

"No, really. Then he knocks the guy out, drags him into the front yard, and tapes his genitals to a tree. When they were pulling him off -"

"I don't need a visual. I guess that's why he kept asking me if I was into 'boinking other men's wives'."

"Doing business with Mr. Blackmore is risky."

"How's it risky? I'm not inclined to bionk his wife." Cristian stretched out next to her, hooking a finger in the V of her blouse and tugging her closer. "I've already got my hands full."

Eva actually felt a blush creeping up her ears. Thank God for brown skin. "Seems I was worried for nothing. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"You weren't speaking to me."

"Oh _that_. We were stupid."

"Well… _you_ were."

"Can we not discuss our dark period?"

"Was it painful for you?" He did that lips-hovering-over-lips thing, the finger in her blouse popping open a button. "Did you miss me?"

Yes she had. But that was a lot of ammo to give to a heartbreaker like Cristian. And she didn't want to muck things up with him. She wanted to keep her friend. She wanted to stay in control.

"I missed you." His admission whooshed into her ear, followed by his tongue.

"Cristian…" Eva angled her head so he could nuzzle a little easier. "…stop."

"Why?" He skipped her neck and went straight for her cleavage, burying his face in it and scraping his beard back and forth across her skin.

"Because…you're a good friend and I don't want to screw that up with sex." Eva wiggled a leg between his. "And then…well…John and I did casual sex in the beginning and look how that worked out."

She heard a muffled "Blah, blah, blah" coming from her breasts.

Wedging a hand between her and his face, Eva was able to draw his attention back to her. Her face at least. "This is serious."

"Yes it is…but you think about stuff too much." His fingers glided over her breasts, up her neck, tickled her chin. "You and I are emotionally involved…unless I'm mistaken."

"No, no, but -"

A hard and deep kiss interrupted her protest. It came with prickly stubble, soft lips and a peppermint-flavored tongue. When it ended, Eva was momentarily fuzzy. She'd been trying to make a point about…

"This wouldn't be casual sex." Cristian murmured as he lowered her to the bed and angled a thigh across hers.

His denim-covered knee felt good scuffing against her bare thigh. And how had her skirt gotten pushed up that far anyway? "What I'm trying to say is that I barely knew John and -"

"You know _me_."

Evangeline felt a surge of adrenalin. Cristian had entirely too much power over her. She didn't like that she was not in control of her feelings or her libido. There had to be some serious i-dotting and t-crossing before they could even contemplate moving to the next level. So she cupped her hands over the boobs Cris was going for and said forcefully, "Stop trying to seduce me."

He leveled her with a similarly serious look, though he kept kneading her inner thigh with his knee. "You wanna skip the basics? Should I just ask?"

"No."

"Can I make love to you, Evangeline?"

"Please."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Eva's tangled black mane hid the stupefied-by-mind-blowing-sex expression twisting her features. One-eyed and slack-jawed, she imagined she looked sensually goofy instead of porn-star orgasmic. Not that Cristian would notice anyway. He was much too fascinated with Bonita.

Gripping reams of tangled sheets, Eva dug toes into the mattress as she rolled her hips backward again and again. The huge ripple started between her thighs and traveled swiftly through her lithe body. All feeling drained from her limbs as she collapsed rag-doll limp over solid thighs. What was that, number three? It was a long time before her ears stopped ringing and the red haze clouding her vision dispersed. She crooked her head towards her torturer and whimpered, "I'm dying."

"Wait for me." Cristian murmured, with a tongue and a rush of hot breath in her ear, removing Eva-slick fingers to skim them over the curve of her bottom, caressing and molding it in his palm.

Eva often despised her too globular rump and now was caught up in some bizarre love triangle with it and Cristian. The ass ruled him, as if it had him under some powerfully carnal hex. She liked foreplay as much as the next person, but lavishing such adoration on every arc and dimple was a bit obsessive. Would she come off like a whore if she screamed for him to take her already? Slung across his lap, Eva wondered how long she'd been imprisoned there, tormented as the object of her fascination poked teasingly against her belly.

A bristly cheek glided lovingly across one mound, causing Eva to grouse weakly, "It's just an ass, Cris."

"Just an ass?" He sounded insulted as he reverently kissed his beloved. "Don't listen to her, _Bonita_."

The room tipped and spun as Cris lifted her up and over, tumbling her onto her back and splaying her long legs. Already whipped by multiple orgasms and pre-existing fatigue, Eva was easily malleable, a condition that had Cristian eyeing her with concern.

"You alright?" He whispered as he _finally_ \- thank every deity out there - settled between her thighs.

"Tired." Eva's lids fluttered close. She felt herself tipped at an angle, then came a soft but commanding whack.

Eva laughed quietly as her left cheek began to sting. He could spank Bonita all night and it still wouldn't dispel the lethargy settling over her. The events of the last two weeks had left her perpetually drained and so had his marathon exercise in foreplay. She was a lot more aroused though and welcomed the second whack her other cheek received with a breathless, "Ooh."

The third and fourth whack and a luscious tongue-lashing of her nipples was a re-energizer. With the lights still blazing, Eva could admire all that taut butterscotch skin and the muscles rolling beneath it. Her fingers traced all the tiny bruises she'd branded him with earlier, over his shoulders, around his nipples, down his sides, and between his thighs. Firm and gentle stroking, and Cristian was owned, until Eva's attempt to roll them over. A warning bite sank into the tender flesh under her chin and her arms pinned to the bed above her head and her slender thighs pressed wider by his larger ones. Frenzied arousal at actually being joined to him was nothing compared to the thrill she got from the way he was looking at her, as if a stunning sex goddess, the love of his life, and a miracle were winding arms and legs around him tight.

A possessive kiss preceded warm heavy weights, dually sinking her into the mattress and into her. Her breath whooshed out her with that first downward plunge and Evangeline spent the first moments enjoying being dominated, the way his skin slid against hers and how his buttocks would clench and unclench beneath her fingers. Her body was arranged in ways she hadn't even thought imaginable, Cristian not missing one stroke as he flipped and turned her. She was sure her legs would snap, curved and bent in such gravity-defying positions.

And Eva was one who could check herself when it came to making noise, but she was surely raising the roof this time with her breathless begging and commanding. When his face wasn't twisted into those porn-star orgasmic expressions, Cristian was arrogantly smirking at the wanton, babbling creature he had turned her into. She'd show him how to sexually dominate a person next time, Eva thought as she pulled him into a vice-like missionary, latching onto his mouth and grinding her tongue into it with the same maddening slow circles as their hips. Each of them had fistfuls of the other's hair and waging a tit-for-tat, demanding coital war by the time Cristian came hard, shuddering and swearing in Spanish.

 _I won_ , Eva thought, because she came a few seconds later, though the feeling of triumph was lessened by how battered and bruised as she felt. Her rubbery arms and legs drooped to her sides, the last vestiges of energy draining rapidly from her. Cristian's was like lead on top of her, his skin unbearably hot and sticky fused to hers. Eva needed to breathe.

Her eyes opened to slits, ceiling and a tangled mess of amber curls blocking her vision. With much effort, she gasped out, "Cristian…"

"Hmm?"

Oblivion.

"You gonna get that?"

The question, rasped close to her ear, and distant ringing pulled Eva out of a good and deep sleep. She was on her belly, Cris lying half on top of her with his nose buried in her hair and an arm and leg flung across her. Both he and the ringing went silent and Eva lay listening to the intense quiet, wondering what had happened. Last thing she remembered was …

"Did I…" Eva paused to clear the hoarseness from her throat, "… fall asleep?"

Cristian made an affirmative noise and burrowed further into her and under the covers, machismo seemingly intact despite the fact that a woman had fallen asleep on him after some truly beautiful sex.

Their imperfect foray into intimacy didn't bother Eva either. Though she was disoriented and only interested in snoozing a few more hours, the bliss she'd been feeling before she shamefully passed out was still echoing in her heart and mind. There'd been no grandiose setting, soaring violins and sappy declarations of love, but their feelings were out there in a significant way.

The cell phone sounded again.

"It's been ringing off and on for over an hour." Cristian rumbled, rolling to his back and nudging her out of bed with a knee to her bottom. "Go tell Layla you're okay."

Eva slipped a leg from under the covers, but got no further than the edge of the mattress. She clung to it and her pillow, desperate to go back to sleep. "How do you know it's Layla?"

"Who else would be looking for you at four in the morning?"

Eva shot to her elbows and squinted at the illuminated bedside clock. 3:53. With a groan she swung her feet to the cold wooden floors. In the darkness, she padded gingerly to her purse, smiling sappily at all the nice aches Cris had left on nearly every part of her body. The ringing died again by the time she located the phone. Seventeen missed calls. Eight new messages. She carried the cell back to bed with her, crawling in next to a spread-eagle Cristian to wait. Less than a minute later, the phone trilled again.

"H'lo?"

"Do you know how worried I was when I got up to pee and discovered you weren't home?" Layla screeched in righteous anger, voice echoing so loudly that both Eva and Cris were wincing. "Where are you and what the hell out you doing at four in the morning?"

"Sorry…I'm sorry, Layla." Eva held the phone an inch from her painfully buzzing ear. "I should've called."

"Mmm hmm." Layla replied dryly, neck and eyes rolling no doubt. "So. How was it?"

Snapping the phone shut, Eva dropped it to the floor as Cristian enfolded them in the covers again, tucking his groin against her hip. He brought his face close to hers and swiped a tongue across her mouth, sleep-heavy eyes glinting mischief. "Want me to tell her how good it was?"

With a snort, Eva gave him her back.

"You wouldn't remember since you were so…overcome…" He curled around her. "…and fainted."

The machismo was not only intact, it was imagining things.

"I fell asleep." Eva retorted, as if that were any less humiliating. Closing her eyes determinedly, she clamped her thighs shut against the hand inching between them, promising her protesting libido she'd take care of it after some restorative sleep.

Cristian gave up trying to arouse her and began idly massaging her hip. When he spoke again, his tone was much more serious. "You're not having any regrets?"

"Go to sleep, Cris." Eva ordered, slightly irritated by his second-guessing. They weren't two strangers who'd screwed mindlessly in a basement, but two very close friends who'd relationship had segued naturally into something more. "And no."

"I just want us both on the same page. Maybe we should have dated first."

"We've _been_ dating. We went to the movies and you gave me a painting lesson. We've gone dancing and bowled. You ate chocolate cake on my couch. We've been dating for months, Cris. We've just been calling it "friendship"."

"Then maybe we should make it public."

Eva ground her lips together to keep from shooting him down. How could you make something public when you didn't know what it was? There were strong emotional ties and now extremely satisfying intimate ones, but she didn't know if this could be deemed a relationship yet. Let alone one that if made public would bring all sorts of attention she didn't want, namely from Natalie. She'd dumped all over Cristian, but she was still selfishly territorial over her ex-husband. A renewed rivalry over this man would most definitely come to blows, Eva promised.

"Maybe not." Cris sighed in response to Eva's silence.

She reached up to cup the back of his head, raking nails comfortingly into his scalp as she pressed his cheek to hers. "Let's see how things go before I start dragging by your hair through Angel Square, hmm?"

He silently agreed with a squeeze to one breast and a kiss to her cheek. They shifted against each other for a while, plumping pillows, intertwining limbs and fingers, finding just the right position for slumbering again. It was like searching for your favorite ragged pajamas, the old tattered pair that were soft and comfortable. Eva felt oddly elated...it was like they were old and married. She loved it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Cristian could live between Evangeline's thighs. Everything he needed was there; sustenance, a soft pillow for his head and sweet music from above. There was something erotically melodious about that low-pitched moan she'd hit just before she climaxed. He sent his tongue deep to hear the sound and was rewarded with a remarkably long version. Cristian almost came just listening to her, but held on until she was singing his name at the top of her lungs and wrenching tufts of his hair so fiercely his scalp began to ache.

He gently clamped his teeth around a patch of skin joining her thigh and pelvis and then soothed his tongue along the mark. A forceful tug on the locks still tangled in Eva's fingers told him he'd lingered there long enough. He hooked her legs under his arms as he rose up over her, allowing her to pull him down for a kiss as he sank into her for the second time that morning. Every time they made love, he gave up a good chunk of his heart to her. And later, as they both lay quietly reflecting on this very unexpected turn of events, Cristian mentally shifted through all the ramifications of the free fall into love he was experiencing. Because Eva? Eva was quickly becoming the woman of all women for him.

"I need to get to the office." Eva said softly, lifting her head from his chest and planting a kiss there before rolling determinedly away from him, same as she'd done this morning.

And just as he'd done this morning, Cristian rolled on top of her to keep her from leaving, pinning her legs under his and nuzzling her neck to give her incentive to stay. "It's already noon…you might as well call in."

"I promised my assistant I'd be in and I've got clients who need seeing to." Evangeline replied emphatically, even as she wound her arms around his neck and languidly rubbed against him.. "Are you working tonight?"

Cristian shook his head and smoothed his palm over her ass, flexing his fingers against the taut skin.

"Good…we can continue this later." Evangeline gave him one long kiss and two quick ones in succession before untangling herself from him and propping herself on the edge of the bed. She picked up the cell phone at her feet and started going through the many calls she'd ignored. "Damn."

"What?"

"Twenty messages." Eva sighed, taking the phone away from her ear and closing it. "I don't have time to go through all of them. I need to take a shower…I have to go home and change."

Cris sat up and eased his feet to the floor, eyes fixed on her swaying bottom as she disappeared into the bathroom. After several minutes of combating sexual fatigue, he followed. He pried open the shower door and found Eva inside, her body warped into a weird position that had her head aimed in one direction and the rest of her leaning into the water's spray. Her black hair was twisted into a haphazard knot on top of her head, but drooping slowly to her shoulders.

"Here." Cristian gathered up her hair, flattening it on top of her head and holding the thick mass beneath his palm. Eva hurriedly circled a foamy cloth over her breasts, down over her ribs and hips, between her thighs. As tired as he was, Cristian still grew suddenly and painfully erect watching her.

Eva laughed as she ran a finger lightly along the rigid length of him, leaving a trail of lather. "I have to go to work, Cris."

"I'm too beat to do anything about it anyway."

He snagged the washcloth and turned her away from him, squeezing out a blob of suds between her shoulder blades and then scrubbing soapy rings into her back. Cristian still felt guilty that he hadn't properly wined and dined her before seducing her, despite what she'd said last night. They had been out together many times, but never with confirmation that their feelings had evolved from platonic to romantic.

"We should go out and celebrate."

"Celebrate what?"

"Us." He slathered soap over her lower back and bottom. "Rinse."

Evangeline swiveled obediently, resting hands at his waist and tilting her head forward as hot water sluiced away suds. "I know for sure I'll have to work into the evening."

"Tomorrow's Saturday…you can sleep in."

She slid arms up his back and glued herself to him, causing Cris to suck in his breath at the feel of slick skin and her belly pressing against his erection. An evil grin stretched her lips as she smacked his ass affectionately. "Where're we going to celebrate?"

"You're going to be spread-eagle against the wall -"

"Where's your willpower?" She teased, biting his chin.

"- in about five seconds. _Wet_ hair and all."

Eva straightened swiftly at the threat, snatching her hands away. "Hand me a towel, please. And where are we going?"

"There's a place in New Hope…Antonio says it's pretty good." Cristian yanked down the thick towel hanging over the shower stall and pressed it against her breasts. He let go of her hair as she skirted past him, briskly rubbing the towel over her.

"All the way in New Hope?"

"It's not that far." Cris picked up the soap she'd discarded and moved under the shower spray. "You said you wanted to keep things quiet."

"Did I?"

"That was _after_ you fainted."

Eva rolled her eyes and stepped out the door. "Meet you here around nine?"

Cris nodded as he dipped his head under the pulsing water. It helped alleviate the tenderness where his hair had been repeatedly pulled.

"You know I'm not ashamed to be seen with you?"

Wiping water from his eyes, Cristian glanced back to find Eva standing just outside the shower door, a towel wrapped securely around her and acute concern for him reflected in her dark eyes.

"I know."

"Your ex is kind of a bitch." She offered as explanation.

"So's yours."

Eva smiled, satisfied that they were in sync. "Hurry up so you can come say goodbye to me."

Cristian hurried as much as his sore muscles would allow him. When he returned to the main room, toweling his hair dry, Eva was already dressed.

Talking to Antonio.

"Qué pasa, little brother." Antonio greeted, eyes flicking over Cristian before going back to Evangeline. There was no bullshitting the intimacy screaming from a glowing Eva, a naked Cristian and a sex-rumpled bed. But the older Vega brother continued as if there were nothing at all surprising about the scene, holding up an enormous paper bag instead. "Mami sent lunch."

Binding the towel tightly about his hips, Cristian vowed to make some sort of effort to get his own meals from then on. He was no charity case. "Gracias."

"I have to go." Evangeline moved casually about the loft retrieving her things, then to the bed to claim the cell phone she'd left there. Damn Antonio. No goodbye kiss, just a curt "see you later" as she escaped out the door.

Steeling himself against the ribbing he was about to get, Cristian moved passed his brother towards the dresser shoved against the loft's back wall. As he rifled for a pair of underwear, he asked, "Are those pastellitos I smell?"

Silence. Cristian dropped the towel and slid the black cotton up his thighs. When he turned to retrieve the neatly folded jeans Eva had left on the bed, he noted Antonio standing in the same spot, no humor at all in his disposition.

"Why in God's name are you getting involved with another woman who's hung up on John McBain?"

Zipping up, Cristian regarded Antonio in confusion. "Of all the things I thought you were gonna say -"

"Why, Cristian?"

Cristian looked his brother up and down sharply. "Where the hell is this coming from? You _like_ Evangeline."

Antonio discarded the bag in his hand and stepped to Cris, clamping a hand on his shoulder and cuffing him several times on the side of the head. " _Hear_ what I'm saying. Evangeline is still hung up on McBain."

"You don't know that." Cristian said evenly, hoping his tone would inspire Antonio to rationality. "And you have no idea what's going on between us."

Antonio paced a distraught circle around Cristian and then stopped in front of him again. "Are you in love with her?"

Cristian hesitated, not because he wasn't sure about his feelings but because he wasn't ready to share them with anyone. It was new and he wanted to keep it private. So he answered Antonio's question with a vague, "Getting there."

"You're out of your mind, then. If you're willing to watch another woman you love chose McBain over you, you're out of your fucking mind. Think, Cris!" Antonio beat a fist into against his palm in frustration. "And what do you think Natalie'll do when she finds out?"

"Who the funk is Natalie? My ex-wife. _Ex_ -wife. To hell with what she thinks."

"Be prepared for a lot of drama." Antonio jabbed a finger at him, smile bitter and slightly off-kilter. "A _lot_ of drama."

"There'll be no drama. We're keeping it quiet, so I'd appreciate it…"

" _Oh_. Keeping it quiet. Whose idea was that?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Hers, wasn't it?"

"I know you're going through a lot of shit with Jess and Brennan, but back off, Antonio."

Antonio laughed, dropping his head and shaking it resignedly. "You like keeping John's women warm, don't you?"

Cristian snapped. Before he could check himself, his hand shot out and seized a handful of Antonio's collar to drag him forward. He could feel the tiny muscles ticking in his eye and jaw as he glared at his brother, wanting to pound that malicious remark back down Antonio's throat.

"You're trying to kick the wrong ass, mi hermano."

Cristian struggled to reign in his fury. Antonio's pissing on his happiness was more about his need to have company for his own misery. And Cris badly wanted to comfort his brother during what was obviously a difficult time, but at this moment, he couldn't muster one iota of sympathy for him.

Releasing his grip, Cristian straightened Antonio's collar, palm-punched it back into place with a warning blow that sent Antonio back a couple of steps. "Pendejo."

Not at all affected by the insulted, Antonio kept at Cris, desperate to impart wisdom that wasn't wanted. "Stop thinking with your dick."

"Me and my dick get by just fine. Thank you for lunch…get the fuck outta here."

Cristian didn't wait around to see if Antonio did indeed leave. Two at a time, he thumped down the spiral staircase into the studio and began knocking around canvases. One eventually made it to an easel. After a nasty bout of seething, various angry hues of paint begin striking the canvas. Normally, an onslaught of emotion could inspire him to produce a masterpiece. Unfortunately, this latest work was turning into a multicolored blob of chaos. Before the paint could even begin to dry, Cris began swiping turpentine across the precious canvas to recycle it.

He'd calmed down considerably by the time a knock sounded on his door. Cristian rushed to it, wiping paint-spattered hands with a cloth as he went, hoping it was his dick of a brother, who deserved pulverization and maybe a hug. Only it wasn't Antonio on the other side of the door, but some pretentious-looking dude who was undoubtedly lost.

Regal bearing, impeccably well-fitting designer duds and a ring the size of a golf-ball on his pinky finger, the man oozed of money and importance. His features were patrician and handsome, lined deep with wrinkles. His eyes were pitch black and piercing, framed by thick salt-and-pepper brows, and he had long silver hair, combed neatly into a severe ponytail.

"Can I help you?" Cristian rubbed at the colorful blotches dotting his bare chest.

The man, tall and slender, did a very slow perusal of the Cristian, all the while tugging thoughtfully at a salt-and-pepper mustache. "Cristian Vega?" He finally asked, very tentatively, in a well-modulated English accent, sounding for all the world like he were dreading the answer to his query.

Impatient, Cris propped his hand high against the open door. "Yes."

The man reared back, obsidian eyes sweeping over Cristian again, distress animating once solemn features. "Well, you won't do. You won't do at all."

The man fled, breaking all kinds of records, leaving a perplexed Cristian to wonder who the hell he'd just encountered and why he wouldn't do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The electric bill. A bank solicitation. A wedding invitation from Marcie and Michael. A free sample of a new fabric softener. Evangeline tossed aside the stack of mail save the wedding invitation, carrying it with her to the sofa where she collapsed. Toeing off chocolate Ferragamos, she slit open the envelope to scan the ornate declaration.

 _Mr. Charles Walsh requests the honor of your presence at the marriage of his daughter..._

Yada, yada, yada. Eva felt the flu coming on. It would be here six weeks from Saturday, sparing her from the saccharine love fest.

How awkward would that be anyway, with John there sending her mixed signals while weeping into Natalie's cleavage? And why should she care? Eva had come out the winner here. She was still successful in her law career - Todd notwithstanding - healthy, beautiful, had good family and friends.

Then there was Cristian. Compared to John, Cristian was on a whole other level of manhood, despite the tragic events in his life. He was sweet and sexy, fine as hell, kind and thoughtful, wise beyond his years and could give a clinic on how to satisfy a woman. Eva retrieved a pen and confidently checked the "Yes, I/we accept with pleasure" option on the RSVP card. Tomorrow she'd go shopping for the perfect look-what-you're-missing dress.

With less than an hour to get ready for her date, she was hurrying on stockinged feet towards her bedroom just as the doorbell chimed. Sliding to a halt, she reversed course to the door and aimed an eye into the peephole.

Speak of the devil.

"Hey." She greeted casually after opening the door to John. Was that shabby black suit the only one he owned? What was up with his hair?

"Is…is this a bad time?" John's voice was smokier than usual, his drawn features simultaneously hangdog and besotted. The mixed signals were in full effect. "Maybe I should have called."

Evangeline silently waved him in and then pointedly consulted her watch.

"You look good." John eyeballed her. "Tired, but good."

That line was tired too. "What brings you by?"

Propping hands on his hips, he gave her a look that foretold impending doom. "Manning and his lawyers are coming after you. They're filing a legal malpractice suit."

Phase one of E. Garner Hawke's _Free Todd_ playbook had been initiated. Eva had already worked out a rough strategy to counter the predictable move. Given that Todd's new lawyer had a reputation for being viciously shrewd, she wondered how John had gleaned that bit of information. "You know this how?"

"One of my men had orders to keep his ears open in lock up."

"Unethical, John."

He shrugged. "I do what I have to."

Except where personal relationships are concerned, Eva thought. "Well…thanks for the warning."

"You're not worried about this?"

"I would've done the same thing." Eva rationalized, skillfully masking the fact that she _was_ worried. "If they can prove I screwed up Todd's defense, a mistrial could be declared."

And her reputation as a lawyer could be ruined. Eva sighed inwardly. She needed a good dose of Cristian Vega. "I have a date."

She hadn't meant to disclose that, but it was out there now. John seemed thunderstruck. He recovered nicely though, inching close to her and smoldering up the baby blues.

"I know you." He murmured as he did that caressing-her-features-with-a-look thing. John's attempt to woo was as predictable as her period. "This is eating at you. Please…don't hide from me."

Eva almost rolled her eyes, boredom setting in quickly.

A hand stroked her hair. Expected. Evangeline wagered an offer to slay dragons for her would follow. _Wait for it…_

"If I could make this go away, I would." John stated fiercely.

Laughter erupted. Eva smashed her lips together hard to suppress it, but a puzzled John could still see hilarity twinkling in her dark eyes.

"Did I make a joke?"

Not trusting her voice, Eva merely shook her head. And waited.

Seeming annoyed that his mack had been interrupted, John slid back into White Knight mode. "You don't have to go through this alone. I still care about you."

Amusement took a swift nosedive and Eva was suddenly angry at John's tactics. Selfish unwillingness to sever emotional ties. Impassioned declaration of undying _caring_. Pendejo. She'd heard Cris mutter the expletive when he'd thought she wasn't listening and Eva hoped it meant something really nasty.

She opened her mouth to ask him to leave, but she was too slow. Hands seized her face and lips smashed fervently against hers. The element of surprise worked in John's favor, as it took several seconds for a stunned Eva to react. Once the reflexes rebooted, she wrenched away from him, digging toes into the floor to keep from kicking him.

"Excuse me." A voice oozing with censure sounded from behind them.

Thank God for Layla. John abruptly loosened his grip and Eva stumbled backwards, wiping the back of her hand across her damp mouth. The gesture didn't escape John. He acknowledged her lack of swoonage with a resigned nod. "Take care."

Layla gave him politely cold smile, widening the front door so he could pass, and then shutting it with authority. She leveled a disapproving glare at her sister of which Lisa Williamson would surely be proud. "Have you lost your mind?"

" _He_ did." Eva massaged her molested cheeks. She was suprised at how annoyed she had found John.

"Is he trying to get you back?"

"I'm not going back." Eva announced, pretty damned pleased with herself.

"Thank God!" Layla enthused. "He's got too many issues. Dead daddy, can't express his feelings. That big boobed heffa."

Eva didn't have time for Layla's nonsense. Her emotions were all over the place thanks to excitement for her date and growing anxiety over a now real malpractice lawsuit. These thoughts heavy on her mind, she wandered into her bedroom and began doffing her cream silk suit.

"Did you get any of the five messages I left for you today?" Layla trailed her sister and took up a lounging position on the bed.

"There was a lot going on today." Evangeline replied absently. In bra and panties, she went to the closet and began yanking out dresses for inspection, flinging each one in turn on her bed in dissatisfaction.

"What's wrong with this one?" Layla picked up a purple number, fingering the silky fabric.

"Too bright."

"Hot date?"

"Yes." Holding a black wrap dress against her, Eva studied her reflection. Too court room. It landed on top of the reject pile.

"With the guy you were laid up with all night?"

"You're so romantic, Layla."

"Who was it?"

"None of your business." Yes! Eva pulled a turquoise and black kimono dress she'd never worn from the back of the closet. She looked amazing in it, and thought Cris would especially love the way the fabric draped across her ass. After hanging it on the door, she turned to rush for the bathroom, only to be heaved backward onto the bed next to her steaming sister.

"I _know_ you're not holding out on me." Layla held on tight, desperate to live vicariously. "After all that worry you caused me, at least spill some juicy details."

"No." Eva said after a bit of hesitation, prying at the detaining claws circling her wrist.

"Was it someone I know?"

"Layla…"

"Vange, I haven't had sex since ponchos were in. _Please_? Gimme details."

Oh how Eva wanted to. The beginnings of a romance were the stuff girl talk was made of and she was dying to gush about it to someone. She'd even consider a visit to Nora, but part of the fun of girl talk was reciprocation.

"You're making me late." Eva argued half-heartedly, making a weak show of struggling against Layla's hold.

"I'm not letting you go until I get a name."

The more she leaned towards confession, the more excited she became. Layla grinned to see her resistance flagging and Eva beamed in return. Taking a deep breath, she squeezed her sister's fingers and breathed, "Cristian."

All humor drained from Layla's face. She blinked rapidly, shook her head, blinked again. "As in Vega?"

Eva nodded, perplexed by Layla's reaction. No giggling, squealing, or begging for details. Just… shock.

"Evangeline Williamson." Layla crossed arms over her breasts. "Tell me you're joking."

Where was all this condemnation coming from? She'd sensed it in Antonio earlier when she'd stupidly opened Cristian's door to him and now her own sister apparently disapproved as well. "You _like_ Cris."

"I do." Layla nodded curtly.

"You're always teasing me about having a thing with him."

"Teasing is a hell of a lot different than actually wanting you to have a thing with him."

"He's a good man."

"And he's in love with his ex-wife. He's been running all over Llanview like the damn town crier." Layla framed her mouth and hollered, "'I love Natalie and I'll do anything to get her back!'"

"That was months ago."

"I don't want you hurt by another man who'll dump you and go running the minute that slut sheds a few tears and jiggles her tits at him."

Eva eased off the bed and stalked into the bathroom. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"This won't work out, Vange."

She slammed the door in her face, but Layla pushed inside before Eva could lock her out.

"He's still in love with Natalie." Layla continued to lecture.

"No. He. Isn't. He and Natalie are divorced. _Divorced_. He's over her and I am so over you."

Eva violently wrenched the tub's shower nozzle and began to strip, trembling with suppressed anger for her soon-to-be-disowned sister. She snapped a plastic cap over her hair and stepped into the shower, slamming the door hard and turning her back on Layla's silhouette, visible through the frosted glass door.

"Cristian's over Natalie, huh?" Layla asked dryly, all-knowing.

"Yes." Eva growled, scrubbing vigorously at her pits.

"Then why he was kissing her in Angel Square?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"Mr. Blackmore does not abide solicitations."

"I'm not soliciting." Cris barked at the haughty bitch on the other line. She'd been unjustly hissing at him for five minutes and his patience was now a lost cause. "I sent scans of my work. _He_ called _me_ to schedule a meeting for next week. I'm just trying to confirm."

"Your name?"

For the third time. "Cristian. Vega."

"One moment, please."

Depressing opera assaulted his ear. Cristian sank down onto a park bench and tunneled thick fingers into his longish hair. After an intense internet search of the online art community, he'd finally come across a picture of the infamously elusive Cesar Blackmore. He was indeed the same man that had visited him this morning.

 _"You won't do at all."_

Cristian could feel it slipping away, his last chance to succeed in the art world. What the hell had he done in that brief meeting to turn off Blackmore?

The secretary was back, still speaking in that condescendingly clipped tone. "Mr. Blackmore has no scheduled appointment with a Christine Ortega."

" _Cristian_ …" Puta malvada. "… _Vega_."

"Mr. Blackmore has no scheduled appointment with _him_ either."

A distraught Natalie darted into his line of vision and collapsed onto a bench at the edge of the park. Cristian gave his concern for her a two-second window before returning to his call. "I'd like to speak with Mr. Blackmore."

"Mr. Blackmore is engaged elsewhere. May I give him a message?"

Frustration made him snap shut his cell phone without a reply. No point in being cordial. Blackmore had mysteriously snubbed him and Cristian was too mentally defeated to fight back. He glanced at his watch. Over three hours until his date with Evangeline. God, he needed a soothing squeeze from her.

He stood with the intention of visiting Lindsay, thinking she might offer insight into Blackmore's bizarre behavior. Then he spied Natalie again. Even a few yards away, he could hear her miserable sobs. As good as she had it in life, there could be only one reason why she was so dejected.

Would he be an asshole if he just walked away? He didn't want to hear bitter bitching about John McBain. And the brutal truth was, he didn't owe Natalie a saving hand. But gallantry was ingrained in him. It had started in third grade, when he'd punched Jimmy Mercado in the nose for calling Cindy Toney a four-eyed doody head. Twenty-two years later, that damn chivalrous streak was still running rampant.

Cristian dragged heels over to his ex-wife's hunched form. She looked a pathetic loser, red-faced and clutching her coat around her. Glancing up at his approach, she sucked in a sob and beamed, genuinely glad to see him. Whether she was or not no longer mattered.

"What's wrong?" He asked too brusquely.

The pleasure at seeing him faded quickly and she bristled, "Nothing. Just having a bad day."

"Cool." Cristian beat a hasty path away from her.

"Cris."

Maybe he could outrun her.

"Cris!"

Damn. As soon as he turned around, she was on him. The indifference in his manner didn't deter her from smiling through her tears and attempting to connect with him.

"I know you and I are kind of in a bad place, but I could really use a friend right now."

"What…McBain too busy slicing his wrists?"

"That's a shitty thing to say."

Cristian shrugged.

"Anyway, this _isn't_ about John."

They both knew that was bullshit. She had the grace to look sheepish though, so Cristian played the gentleman. "If it's not, I apologize. But we don't have to be friends."

"You can be so stupid! We're living in a small town, we see each other all the time. Besides, you can't just turn your emotions on and off, especially after all the begging you did to get me back!"

He should kick his own ass for creating this monster.

"Your brother and my sister are practically married and having a baby that will be our niece or nephew!" Natalie raged on, determined to force a friendship. "Not to mention that we were very good friends before we even got involved! Remember that?"

"No."

"Stop trying to be such a hard ass!"

Did she just stamp her foot?

"I'm not going to just let you shove me completely out of your life!"

Cris jiggled a finger into his ear. He'd forgotten how grating and high-pitched her voice became when she was throwing one of her fits. "We done?"

Natalie fumed and the effect was garish. Her face was now beet red, with pale vertical lines of dried tears coursing down her puffy cheeks. Clarity came to her quicker than usual, prompting her to try a more feminine persuasive tact. She moved in close, touching his jaw with her gloved hand.

"We were _married_ , Cristian." Natalie's gaze went gooey. "I'm always going to love you."

Bloated eyelids fluttered closed. Cold lips met his. Cristian closed his eyes too and waited for that old familiar ecstasy to gut-punch him.

Nothing.

 _Clack, clack, clack._

Cristian's head jerked up at the sound of those rapid-fire footsteps. He caught a glimpse of a sapphire-colored coat and long black hair disappearing around a corner. "Was that Layla?"

"I don't know." Natalie glanced briefly in the direction he was staring and then back at Cristian, a little put out that the kiss hadn't sprung him.

It _had_ been Layla and that worried Cristian. Even if Eva decided she wanted to keep their relationship private from her sister, Layla would still want to gossip to any and everyone about what she'd witnessed.

"I gotta go." Cristian murmured, but Natalie bounced into to his path, glaring at him. Did she really want to prolong this? She had to have felt as unmoved by that piss-poor kiss as he had. "Aren't we done?"

The glare grew fiercer.

"I don't have time for this, Natalie."

"You kissed me and now you're just going to leave?"

" _You_ kissed _me_ and I thank you. Now I'm sure we're done."

The expression she wore was equal parts stunned and hurt. A twinge of guilt hit him as Cris walked away. That final revelation had been harshly delivered. But Natalie was like a dog with a bone. You had to be ruthless or she'd never give you any peace.

He second-guessed his decision to visit Lindsay, realizing she'd probably be upset that he'd sought out another dealer. Instead, he headed home to make a dent in the bottle of tequila and wait for comfort only Eva could give him. Delbert and Brent, the two spaced out musicians who lived above him, were outside when he made it to his building. They were standing next to their souped-up lime green Gremlin and eyed the Mustang with envy.

"Qué pasa, Vega." Delbert slurred, the aroma of stale weed clinging to his grunge apparel. "Is that a Shelby?"

"Yeah…66."

"Got a 200?"

"289."

"Sweeeeet."

For his nose's sake, Cristian kept a good distance between him and his neighbors. Brent was a direct contrast to his buddy, neat and clean in a brown tweed jacket, Dockers and pristine white Converse All-Stars, but he too reeked of weed.

"Whadya think of that notice, man?" Brent stuck hands in his pockets and pressed his arms against his sides in an effort to keep warm in the chilly April air.

"Notice?"

"The eviction notice. You haven't seen it?"

Delbert struggled to pull a wad of paper from the pocket of his tight mod jeans, smoothed out as much wrinkles as he could and then and held the notice out to Cris. Both Cris and Brent recoiled at the dried brown globs clinging to the paper.

"They're selling the building." Brent offered, shaking his head at his friend. "We got 30 days to move."

Cristian stared at the crumbling brown box that had been his home for so long, unsure of how to react or what to do. The hits just kept on coming. Maybe he'd have been better off if he'd stayed in prison.

"How the fuck do they expect us to find a place to live in thirty days?" Brent groused.

"I'm crashing with my mom." Delbert announced confidently.

"She said she'd gnaw off her foot before she let you move back in."

"Dude…she was just kidding."

"Then why'd she sell all your shit and rent out your room?"

The argument escalated as Cristian retreated into the building. Being forewarned didn't diminish the misery he felt at seeing the ominous notice stuck to his door. He scanned it as he let himself in. The building had been sold to a corporation and would be used commercially. Thirty days to get out. Refer questions to some asshole in public relations. A heartless heave ho for a good tenant. Even when Cris had been missing and in prison, Antonio had kept the rent up just so they'd have a place to store his paintings. Now he was being rewarded with eviction.

Cristian drank the whole bottle of tequila, though all it did was give him a nice buzz. The only way he was going to forget his troubles was to lose himself in Evangeline. She'd been his savior when she'd gotten him out of prison and now she was becoming his haven. The closer it got to nine o'clock, the more his tension lessened. He was easing a black knit shirt over his head when the light knock came.

He yanked open the door, pulling Eva against him with one hand as he pulled down his shirt with the other. The kiss he laid on her took her by surprise, but she melted into it within seconds. Now there was the gut-punch he'd been looking for.

After releasing her, his eyes did a slow glide down her body, taking in her appearance. She was swathed in a black cloak, but her legs were visible and they were amazingly smooth, sexy things, as were the sexy black sandals encasing her feet. "Am I glad to see you."

"Really?" Eva purred, curving a hand against his neck and lightly stabbing him with her nails. "Is that what you said to Natalie when you kissed her?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Cesar Blackmore was much less flamboyant with two espressos diluting the alcohol in his bloodstream. Somewhere between the jaunt from the club to the small café, the Englishman had loosened his silk tie and his gleaming white hair, appearing even more serene and noble than when he'd been knotted and ponytailed. Watching him light the slim back cigarette dangling from his lips, Cristian likened him to an urbane, modern day wizard.

"I appreciate your meeting me here." Blackmore raised a long, elegant hand, ready to motion for a server. "Are you sure you wouldn't like something?"

"Just answers." Cristian leaned back in his chair, arm brushing against Eva's, who'd been quiet since their arrival.

Smoke plumed from Blackmore's mouth and nose as he tapped the cigarette into an ashtray. There was a hint of bitterness in the eyes narrowed on Cristian. "Have you ever been the victim of infidelity, Mr. Vega?"

Thoughts of Natalie and John forced their way into Cristian's mind, but he rebelled against putting his personal business out there. "What's that got to do with my work?"

Blackmore inclined his head and seconds later a waitress appeared at his elbow. He tapped his finger against the empty demitasse cup. "Another, please."

The cup was swept away and Blackmore took another drag off the cigarette before veering in another direction. "Boredom sent me on a tour of small town Pennsylvania, being between art shows, as it were. You can unearth amazing treasures in the more quaint antique shops. Those in the larger municipalities have become rather boring, what with the usual Tiffany lamps and colonial furniture."

Cesar Blackmore was a tedious motherfucker.

"Your art is brilliant. So brilliant that I was hoping to see it in person. Scans and pictures have a way of deadening the true soul of the piece." Blackmore took a moment to sip the fresh espresso placed in front of him. "I realized I was near Llanview so I decided to schedule an impromptu interview in lieu of our arranged appointment. _You_ opened the door and well, there was Paulo."

Cristian's patience exploded. "Who the fuck is Paulo?"

"Do you mind? I abhor vulgarity."

 _Pendejo._

"Paulo was one of my more popular artists. Six-two. Latin." Blackmore sneered, smoke now spiraling from his flared nostrils. "Beautiful. You remind me of him."

"You rejected me because I remind you of some guy you had a thing for?"

"I am _not_ gay, Mr. Vega." Blackmore stiffened, black brows V-ing below his creased forehead. "Not that there is _anything_ wrong with that."

Eva snickered.

The sound drew Blackmore's attention to her again. "Have I apologized to you for my vulgar behavior?"

Instantly solemn and gracious, Evangeline nodded. "Several times."

"Are you sure? I can't quite remember."

Blackmore _had_ apologized. Profusely. Before, when he'd tumbled into his chauffeur driven Silver Cloud outside the nightclub and after, as he fell out of it in front of the café. Cristian still marveled at the caffeine's ability to sober him so quickly.

"Mr. Blackmore -"

"Cesar. Please."

"I still don't get your initial reaction to seeing me."

All of that refinement evaporated, replaced by a strange awkwardness. Mr. Suave actually squirmed in his chair. "I asked you once if you'd ever slept with another man's wife. You failed to answer the question."

"It was a bullshit question. And none of your business."

"It is a legitimate question if we're to have a lucrative working relationship." Blackmore snubbed out the barely-smoked cigarette and immediately lit another. "I'm sure an intelligent man such as yourself has done his homework and you're aware that I've been married several times."

Eva had mentioned he'd been married six times, but that was the least of Cristian's concerns. "Not really interested in your personal life, Blackmore. I only care about what you can do for me and my art."

As if Cris hadn't uttered a word, Blackmore continued, "Paulo slept with my wives. Number Three and Number Five."

"What...he was only into banging the odd numbered ones?"

"Cristian!"

Eva's reprimand drew a frown from Cristian and a rueful chuckle from Blackmore. "Oh don't be offended on my account, love. I deserve Cristian's wrath after my abysmal behavior."

Actually, Cristian was feeling more than wrath. If his suspicions were true, Blackmore had put him through all this hell over some petty personal crap. He leveled the Englishman with a scowl. "I'm not into screwing other men's wives if that's what this shit is about."

Pale face reddening with embarrassment, Blackmore muttered, "Well. You can never be too sure."

Cristian let loose a kaleidoscope of swear words and finished with an "Unbelievable."

"You don't understand." Blackmore attempted to justify his absurdity. "The marriage to Number Three had run its course and I wasn't making any money off her. Paulo, on the other hand, had earned me six figures. Six figures! So of course, I kept him and got rid of Angela. Hang on. _Helene_ was Number Three. At any rate, everything worked out well for a number of years. Until Paulo decided to bonk Number Five."

"So it _was_ that he liked the odd numbered wives."

Not the least offended by Cristian's mocking tone, Blackmore snorted. "If Number Four had been remotely attractive, I'm sure Paulo would have had her too. But she was hideous, you know. A sweet bird, but hideous. I thought a less attractive woman would be more prone to faithfulness. Unfortunately, I discovered I had difficulty screwing her myself."

Frustration had Cristian dropping his head to the table. How? Out of all the art dealers in the world, how had he ended up with this bizarre son-of-a-bitch?

A light tap on his skull brought his head up again. Blackmore was studying him impatiently.

"So I got rid of Paolo and Number Five, and here we are." He ground the cigarette into the ashtray as he downed the rest of his coffee. "Mr. Vega, I fancy being married. A wife means a built-in hostess or escort for social occasions and a buffer between the servants and myself. As it is, I'm currently in the market for Number Six and I cannot have another Latin Adonis around to muck that up."

He'd had his share of women troubles, but Cristian would never use and dispose of them in such a callous manner. There had to be a deep, emotional reason for Blackmore's hardened and perfunctory approach to marriage, but as curious as he was, Cristian needed money. He was thirty days from homeless and wasting away in a grueling, dead end job. And if he weren't so desperate, he'd kick Cesar Blackmore's ass.

As if reading the younger man's thoughts, Blackmore grinned. "You think I'm a nutter."

"If by nutter you mean certifiable, then hell yes." His efforts to control his temper sent his voice's volume higher with each word and drew nosy gawking to their table. "I'm all about painting…I wouldn't be interested in your wives. I can guarantee you we don't have the same taste in women."

"Don't be too certain." The Englishmen openly admired Eva. "Have any sisters, do you?"

"No." Eva answered too quickly.

Blackmore smiled knowingly and glanced at Cristian again. "But everything is fine now, seeing as you already have a wife. One on which you don't seem inclined to cheat."

"Oh…no, Mr. Blackmore. We're _not_ married." Eva corrected forcefully.

Was there some pissiness in that statement? Cristian nudged her beneath the table, trying to catch her eye, but she stubbornly gave him her profile. Definite pissiness there.

"Not married." Cesar glanced at Eva's ringless left hand. "How stupid of me. But you're in love? Been together for a while?"

"Actually, we're just friends." Eva sighed. The pissiness had disappeared, replaced by strange melancholy.

"Rather intimate friends, I'd say." Blackmore's look was lascivious, reminding Cristian of the drunken loon he'd been earlier. "I saw you back at that night club. All you needed was a bed. Or an unoccupied patch of dance floor."

"Blackmore." Cristian growled a warning at the Englishman, forgetting how much he needed this man to get his artwork seen. "You're going too far."

"Forgive me."

"You and I will talk later." He tried to give Eva a look that meant business, but she wasn't having it. Cristian felt wholly inadequate in his ability to get his woman - and yes the hell she was _his_ woman - in line. Returning his attention to Blackmore, he reiterated. "Look, man. I've been the 'victim of infidelity', so I'm not inclined to inflict that kind of pain on anyone else."

A flash of sympathy crossed Blackmore's bland expression. "Hmm. Perhaps we're kindred spirits after all."

"I doubt it."

"Confession." Blackmore brushed a lock of silvery white hair from his cheek. "I am a bit…eccentric. I am a moody bastard and can be very irrational. Bad habits I can't seem to outgrow. But I am a fair man and I am determined to rectify the situation."

"So you'll show my work?"

"Patience, Mr. Vega. I think an introduction into my social circle is in order first. A dinner party perhaps." He consulted the diamond-encrusted Rolex on his wrist. "God, look at the time. How about I call you with all the details tomorrow? I'll arrange for your lodging as well, at my expense of course."

As he rose, Blackmore dropped several bills near the ashtray, triple the amount of the magic espressos. Cristian and Evangeline trailed him outside where his driver, a big Middle Eastern colossus named Amir waited. He opened the rear door and stood ramrod straight as Blackmore shook Cristian's hand and peppered Eva's cheeks with gentlemanly kisses.

"I'm glad we were able to sort out this little misunderstanding. My secretary will be calling you."

With that, he and Amir disappeared inside the Silver Cloud and the luminous Rolls glided down the street and into traffic. Cris and Eva marveled at it a moment before Cris realized he was physically and emotionally beat and led them to his car. Once on the interstate, Cristian put his own jumbled thoughts aside to break into Eva's.

"Did that just happen?"

Evangeline wasn't ready to make small talk just yet. She adjusted and readjusted her skirt, her seat belt, her wrap. All the shifting ended with her hands clutching her purse as if she were trying to keep from popping him one and fuming out the window. After a while, she asked, "Why didn't you tell me you'd met Cesar Blackmore already?"

She couldn't be ticked about something so minor. On the other hand, she _was_ female and she _was_ Evangeline. If anyone should be teed off, though, it should be Cris.

"Why'd you tell him we were friends?"

"Was that a lie?"

"You said 'just friends'."

"This is so juvenile."

"Exactly. The thing with Blackmore went down this morning. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to talk about it…I had a lot of shit on my mind."

"Like Natalie." She murmured reproachfully, folding arms like a protective shield against her chest.

This was still about _that_? For real?

Cris wasn't taking the bait. They'd already hashed out the Natalie issue so he continued to hammer her on the more pressing one. "Just friends don't make love and date. You rethinking this?"

Head jerking towards him, she snapped, "Are you?" Eva actually rolled her eyes then continued staring out at the nothing view. "I'm not up for an argument."

Cristian's fingers clenched around the steering wheel, his foot bearing down on the gas, the mph rocketing upward. He took a curve at 70, gunned the Mustang into 80 into the stretch. Despite her chilly demeanor, Eva fidgeted nervously and Cristian eased his baby down to a nice respectable speed. He switched on the radio and settled on a rock station, static sporadically drowning out the music. Any noise was better than inexplicable silence.

Evangeline was the most grounded, rational, sane woman Cristian had ever been involved with, so her current foray into lunacy had him confused. Mentally replaying the conversation with Blackmore, Cristian couldn't recall any bonehead comments or actions that accounted for Eva's pique. Frustration built within him so fiercely that he was about to beg her to forgive him for whatever he hadn't done when earsplitting static erupted from the speakers, seeming to ratchet up the tension. He turned off the radio, the hum of the Mustang's engine now the only sound ineffectively buffering the friction.

Cristian was still agonizing over what the hell had happened when they finally reached Llanview.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Blackie's Bar & Grill had been open a week and was already the hottest spot in Llanview. They served the requisite beer and Buffalo wings, but the place was more upscale than Rodi's. There were sleek dark wood floors, half-circle black leather booths, and state of the art flat screen TVs mounted above the massive circular bar in the center of the room. A game was room upstairs. There was even a VIP lounge in an open loft area.

Glass windows encompassed the whole venue and from her vantage point in the rear, Evangeline could see familiar faces arriving. Marcie and Michael, with a brooding John tagging along. Hugh and a lissome blonde. Natalie and Jessica. A fresh-out-of-prison Rex with Adrianna. Layla and the Tyrese Gibson look-a-like she'd been dating for two weeks.

So much for privacy. Nerves kicked into overdrive at the thought of her and Cris having an audience. Especially when they were on such awkward terms. Fortunately she'd picked a booth in the bar's darkest corner, but if they noticed Cristian arriving, they'd certainly see him making his way to Eva. Then the nosey ass speculation would begin.

Or they wouldn't care at all. No one knew about their "relationship" besides their siblings. Antonio wasn't a gossip and Layla wouldn't spill when she still didn't approve of Cristian. To their acquaintances, she and Cris could just be two friends hanging out.

Friends. The word brought back memories of Eva's stupidity six days ago. Even though they'd cleared up the Natalie drama, Eva still entertained niggling doubts about Cristian's relationship with his ex-wife. Finding out secondhand about Cesar Blackmore's impromptu visit had incited low-level panic. John had been notorious about keeping supposedly innocuous information from her and they had imploded because of it. Cristian's failure to communicate wouldn't be so unsettling if there were less Natalie involved.

Evangeline regretted her inability to let such a minor issue roll off her shoulders. But wouldn't Cris have told her about Blackmore's visit if he was really into her? Wouldn't you share hopes and dreams and worries with the person you were intimate with?

Relax, she told herself. Inhale…exhale. She'd get a chance to let Cristian know how she felt soon. Eva fixed her eyes on the entrance again, pulse racing, breath quickening.

"Girl, why didn't you tell me you were coming here?"

Shit.

" _Heyyyy_." Eva greeted Layla and her date, inwardly groaning as her sister gestured wildly for Rex and Adrianna, who were sitting at the bar, to join them.

"This is Marcus." Layla scooted across the booth, the new man following.

"Marcus, this is my big sister, Evangeline."

"Hey, Evangeline." Marcus smiled, eyes creasing into attractive half-moons as he clasped her hand between both of his. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Eva's assessment was swift and imperceptible. A magnetic smile, deep dimples. Lean muscles beneath hip urban clothes. He seemed cool, but most likely he wouldn't last the month.

"What's that?" Layla frowned at the drink sitting before Eva.

"A zombie." She'd needed something stronger than her usual martini.

"That's a little hard for you." Layla murmured knowingly.

Eva shrugged as Rex and Adrianna bundled into the booth with more greetings, passing a beer and a cosmopolitan to Marcus and Layla.

"Want a refill?" Rex gestured towards Eva's drink.

"I'm good."

"So…you okay? I heard Todd's suing you for malpractice."

Rex was all sorts of uncouth. Marcus seemed nice enough, but Eva didn't want him privy to her professional turmoil.

"It's merely a tactic to get his conviction overturned." Her words were sure and succinct, designed to put an end to the subject.

Of course, Layla completely missed the hint. "But what happens to you if they're able to prove malpractice?"

"They won't." Eva's nails clinked repeatedly against the tumbler, her agitation lost on everyone.

Except Marcus. He smoothly spun the subject to an upcoming concert, drawing eager interest from Layla and Adrianna. Eva caught his eye and mouthed 'thank you' and he responded with a low wattage version of that magnetic smile. She hoped he lasted the month.

During the second round of drinks, Cristian arrived. Watching him move through Blackie's, Eva froze, experiencing that debilitating nervous thrill she'd been grappling with since she'd gotten involved with Cris. She sensed that continuous exhaustion. It was apparent physically, in his measured gait and drawn features, but she detected mental fatigue as well. The usually cool edge seemed tempered by an underlying world-weariness.

Cristian spent no time scanning the crowd, just strode toward her as if he had inner Eva radar. She made room for him and he slipped into the booth, draping an arm along the back of the seat behind her and pressing a quick, demonstrative kiss to her surprised lips.

"Sorry I'm late." He ran a palm down the back of her head, grasping a lock of hair and tugging gently, an intimate and affectionate action not lost on Rex or Adrianna, who were already stunned by that kiss. They wore twin expressions of surprised fascination.

Well. It was out.

"Qué pasa." Cristian acknowledged everyone, pausing a moment when he noticed the new face in the crowd. He extended a hand towards Marcus. "Cris."

"What's up…Marcus."

Cristian's assessing eyes darted between Marcus and Layla before picking up Eva's watery drink and swallowing half. Calloused fingers dropped to her shoulder, massaging gently as he met her look and murmured, "That's bad. How about something stronger?"

A spark of feral mischief glinted in the eyes gazing back at her. He knew he was in trouble for defying her wishes and putting their personal business out there. But his look also communicated a desire for that headboard breaking, emotional rollercoaster lovemaking they excelled at. For her part, Eva was mesmerized, losing herself in all the sexy goodness she'd been deprived of for nearly a week. He was beautiful, despite the dark circles ringing his eyes and the too-tired-to-shave stubble covering the lower half of his face. It had been six days since she'd seen him. Six days of clumsy phone conversations and conflicting work schedules that hadn't allowed for face-to-face making up. Six days of her being too chicken to apologize.

Six days of no sex.

"You two wanna be alone?"

At the sardonic question, Cristian's ceased emotionally reconnecting with Eva to slant a derisive look at Rex. "How'd you get out of jail so fast?"

Table turned. Rex was now the embarrassed one. "Bo took pity on me."

Shaking his head ruefully, Cristian twisted Eva's glass back and forth between his thick fingers, staring off into the watery remnants. "Nice to have friends in high places."

"So you two are…?" Rex crudely pounded his knuckles together.

"Could you be a bigger ass?" Adrianna elbowed him hard, but her interest was just as keen, though a lot more on the sappy side. "You two are together?"

"Damn, girl, isn't it obvious?" Layla injected, overly annoyed.

"I was just -"

"I mean, they aren't the first people to hook up. What the hell is the big deal?" Layla snapped open a menu. "Can we eat? I mean, instead of gushing over Gidget and Moon Doggie, can we get some potato skins, maybe some spinach quesadillas?"

Cris smirked at Layla as she shot him a fierce scowl. He leaned closer to Eva and whispered, "Did I steal your virginity?"

"I'll explain later." Evangeline sighed, aiming a silent warning at her unrepentant sister.

Food and liquor took the heat off Cris and Eva, though Layla continue to visually skewer Cristian when she thought no one was looking. Marcus, Rex and Adrianna eventually drifted into the game room, but Layla remained steadfast in her role as spoiler. Where Cristian had been amused by her behavior before, he was now becoming increasingly exasperated.

"I don't think Marcus will be calling you again." He surmised harshly.

Layla looked as if she wanted to kick Cristian's ass. "Excuse you?"

"Just sayin'." Cristian leaned back, making a show of pulling Eva closer and running a possessive hand down her arm. "You seem more interested in cock-blocking than your date."

Eva flinched. For all his soulfulness and chivalry, Cristian could be vicious when tested.

"Don't worry." Layla crooned. "If I'm successful, I know a skank still willing to accommodate you."

"Alright you two." Evangeline held up a hand to diffuse the situation.

Layla was unwilling to let Cristian off the hook. " _He_ blew this up, not me."

"Hey."

All three of them glanced up to see Natalie standing at their table, trying desperately to appear gracious despite the jealousy screaming from her.

"Hmmph." Layla gave Eva a smug look. "What did I tell you?"

"I don't mean to interrupt." Natalie began.

Layla sneered. "Oh I think ya do."

"I just wanted to speak to Cristian for a moment." Natalie disdainfully ignored Layla's dig. She turned to leave, as if there was no question that  
her ex-husband would follow.

To Eva's immense pleasure, Cristian wasn't having any of it. "No."

The blunt refusal caused Natalie's features to twist into cartoonish surprise. A bright red flush of anger and embarrassment spread from her brazenly displayed cleavage all the way up to her ears.

"I'm not up for drama tonight." Cris continued tiredly, his impatience with both Layla and Natalie dangerously evident.

"I'm not trying to cause any trouble, Cristian, really." Natalie pressed, glaring at Eva, who simply smiled back.

Cristian tossed bills on the tables and rose, holding a hand out to Evangeline. "You ready to go?"

He really didn't give her a chance to answer as he dragged her from the booth and through the Blackie's. From the corner of her eye, Eva saw John observing them with a hang dog look. She was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to rub her obvious relationship with Cris in his face, then immediately regretted the vengeful thought.

"You were right." Cristian muttered when they were outside. He kept pulling her along towards the parking lot, head swiveling repeatedly as he searched for her car. "Where are you parked?"

"This way." Eva tugged him in another direction so that he was now trailing her. "Right about what?"

"About keeping us a secret. Who pissed in Layla's drink?"

Evangeline remained silent until they reached her car. She turned to loop arms loosely about his waist, determined to clear the air between them. Only Cristian misinterpreted the action, glancing around to make sure they had privacy before pinning her against the car and kissing the hell out of her. If it had just been her lips, she wouldn't have succumbed so easy, but Cristian kissed with his whole body. He may have looked tired, but his hips said otherwise.

Cristian was the one with the presence of mind to end the kiss before they were caught, glancing around again before leaning into her and peering down at her in the darkness. "Did you miss me?"

Was he kidding? Her nipples were poking holes in her dress. Instead she said, breathlessly, "About that thing with Blackmore."

He eased away, dropping his hands to her hips and squeezing. "We're cool."

"I just wanted to explain why I acted so stupid."

"It doesn't matter."

"Cris, I'm not sure if we're…you know…serious or just dating or whatever." She paused to give him a chance to clarify exactly what they were, but he remained silent, forcing her to continue. "But I think it's important that we lay things out. So there's no misunderstandings or confusion."

"I'm not confused. And I think some things are better left unsaid."

"Didn't you even wonder a little about why I was mad?"

He shrugged. "I chalked it up to hormones."

Evangeline reared back. "Sexist much?"

"I can't think of a better way to put it." He trapped her against the car again, cupping her bottom with his hand as he nuzzled her neck. "I do know that I missed you and I apologize for doing whatever it was that set you off."

"Blanket apologizing is a cop out, Cris." Eva pushed him away, hip to his attempt to seduce her off the topic.

"Did you hear me back there? When I said I didn't want any drama tonight?" He tried to soften the reprimand, but he was clearly on edge. "The quicker you get in your car, the quicker we can go back to my place."

Eva hesitated a moment, pissed all over again, but sympathetic as well. Aside from the keen exhaustion, Cristian seemed uncharacteristically stressed, something he'd hidden well up until now. Silently she dug her keys from her purse and allowed him to help her into the car. He leaned inside and kissed her again before shutting the door and disappearing into the darkness.

Shaking off a sudden feeling of dread, Eva started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.


End file.
